Sunny in Storybrooke
by Tsukino101
Summary: Rapunzel and Peter were lovers in the Enchanted Forest. However, their happy ending was stopped by the evil queen. Now they live in Storybrooke as old friends, Sunny and Tate.
1. Pilot

**A/N: Okay, here's the ups and downs to this.**

**UPS: An OC with a cute to boot guy like Robbie Kay as Peter Pan. It is Rapunzel and putting her in this was a bit tricky at first. BUT… when I saw that ****Rumpelstiltskin was interpreted as the beast for Belle, I had a big brainstorm for a concept. If you are curious, yes, she is the Rapunzel from 'Tangled.' Young, blonde, and magical… well, sort of.**

**DOWNS: I do not own Once Upon A Time or the Rapunzel from 'Tangled.' I just own the way I made her in this.**

**NOTES: Peter Pan will have a bit of a different personality. He's not evil or taking over Neverland, but I will keep that mischievous bad boy behavior. Kind of turns me on anyway.**

**ENJOY!**

**Oh, P.S.,**

**PLEASE be gentle with me about this. I write a lot of fanfiction, but this is the only one I'm posting. I'm a little insecure, so be nice.**

* * *

"_I do."_

_It became one of the most beautiful weddings Rapunzel has ever been to. Come to think of it, because of Gothel trapping her in a tower her whole life, it was the only wedding she's ever been to. Even so, seeing something to vow their love is amazing. She hopes that maybe one day, it will be her and Peter on that stand._

_Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the doors suddenly open. Of all the people it had to be, it was the Evil Queen, Regina._

"_Sorry I'm late."_

_She walked into the ballroom so casually, like nothing is even wrong. Two guards tried to run in and stop her, but before they could even touch her, she blew them away with her magic. Rapunzel ran in front of the newlyweds, before Regina could make another step to them or before Peter could even stop her._

"_Don't even think about it."_

_The queen just kept her smile up._

"_Rapunzel. I hardly recognized you. Got a haircut?"_

_Rapunzel just scowled at the evil woman. She knew exactly how Rapunzel went from a long, blonde to a short, brunette. She wasn't as angry as Pan was when he stepped in front of Rapunzel, glaring at Regina._

"_All thanks to you, your highness."_

_Before she could say anything else, she heard a sword and turned to see Snow White wielding Charming's sword and pointing it to Regina._

"_She's not the Queen anymore. She's nothing more than an evil witch."_

_Before she could make another step, Charming moved her hand down with his own._

"_No, no, no. Don't stoop to her level. There's no need."_

_At that, he takes his sword out of Snow Whites hand without taking his eyes off of the queen that started the whole mess._

"_You're wasting your time. You've already lost."_

_His next words didn't come until after he stood in front of Snow White._

"_And I will not let you ruin this wedding."_

"_Oh, I haven't come here to ruin anything. On the contrary, dear, I've come to give you a gift."_

_Rapunzel really hoped that was a joke. Her last gift brought her to a part of her doom. Luckily, Snow was the one who spoke out._

"_We want nothing from you."_

"_But you shall have it! My gift to you is this happy, happy day. But tomorrow, my real work begins. You've made your vows, now I make mine."_

_Rapunzel was almost starting to shake. What could she be up to that was so bad? Peter started to notice her anxiety and wrapped an arm around her shoulder and one on her waist in comfort._

"_Soon, everything you love, everything all of you love, will be taken from you. Forever. And out of your suffering, will rise my victory. I shall destroy your happiness, if it is the last thing I do."_

_Now Rapunzel was shaking in fear. After what everyone went through because of her magic, why would Regina want to keep going? Doesn't she think they all suffered enough? She was feeling a little relieved when Regina started to walk away, but she still felt a little uneasy._

"_Rapunzel, Peter, duck!"_

_The queen, Rapunzel and Peter turned around to see Charming about to throw his sword. When he threw it, Peter pull down Rapunzel's arm, making her avoid the attack. Just when the sword was going to hit Regina, she evaporated, making the sword hit the door. Right now, everyone was in a bit of a panic about the queen. Rapunzel couldn't be any more nervous, because she had to live in more dark magic._

* * *

"Sunny!"

A teenage, short-haired, brunette girl turned around from her window to see her guardian and mother, Mary Margaret Blanchard.

"Sorry, Mary. Did you say something?"

"Yeah. It was along the lines, 'Time to eat dinner.'"

Both of the girls laughed before Sunny went over to the table to eat. Truth be told, she was starving.

"So what's on the menu tonight, Betty Crocker?"

Mary Margaret laughed at her joke before she answered.

"Burgers and fries from Granny's. I wasn't in the mood to cook, so I hope you don't mind take-out."

"It's fine. The old woman makes good burgers anyway."

"Amen."

They both laughed again. They don't know why, but they have always connected so well, even before Sunny started living with Mary. It was like they knew each other from another life, as best friends. The moment were interrupted by the phone suddenly ringing. Sunny and Mary were a little confused by why it was ringing.

"Who would be calling this late?"

Sunny shrugged and answered the phone, thinking it was a collect call.

"Yolo."

"Where is he?"

Sunny wasn't expecting that of all things, it would be the mayor calling. Calling while in a bad mood from the sound of it. Sunny, trying to make the best of things, took it as an opportunity to make a joke out of it.

"What's with the angry tone, mayor? One of your apple trees rotted?"

She laughed at her own joke. Mary Margaret was trying to hold back her laugh. The mayor, however, didn't sound too thrilled at her attempt at making a joke.

"We'll see which of us is laughing when I'm through with you."

Sunny stopped laughing and held a hand up in surrender, even though the mayor couldn't see it.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry, but seriously, you sound mad. What's going on?"

"Henry's not here. You're his babysitter, you saw him last; now where is he?"

It was confusing. Henry should've been home. Sunny put him down for bed before she went home, so he had to be asleep. He should be, right?

"I put him to bed. Isn't he asleep?"

"If he was, would I even be calling you?"

"Well, Regina, I don't know what to tell you. Henry was put to bed the last time I saw him."

"Well, get over here, help me look and see if I'm lying."

Sunny was really hoping that it was a joke. She was just about ready to eat dinner, for crying out loud.

"Now? Can't it wait? I'm about to eat-"

"Now!"

That was pretty loud coming from the mayor. It was loud enough for Sunny to move the phone away from her ear so she could still have to ear attached to her head. Before she could even put the phone back to her ear, she heard the dial tone go off on the other end, meaning Regina hung up on her. Sunny didn't want to do this, but since she cares about Henry too much, she had no choice but to listen to Mayor Pain in the Ass. She hung up the phone, and went to get her coat, but she didn't leave without telling Mary Margaret.

"Emergency with the mayor. Gotta step out."

Hearing that, Mary suddenly got worried. Everyone knows that the mayor is not someone you want to mess with.

"Is everything okay? Should I come with you?"

Sunny shook her head. She can tell Mary's worried about her with the Mayor. The last thing she needs to be worried about is Henry disappearing.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I'll just call Ryder later and see if he's up for it. He's a night owl, anyway."

Mary still seemed a little nervous about leaving Sunny with Regina, but Sunny's always been independent enough to know what to do in situations. So when she does, there's nothing Mary can do.

"Okay. If you need anything, be sure to call me."

Sunny nodded.

"I know. Just leave my food on the table. I don't think I'll be long anyway."

"All right. Be careful."

"Always."

With that, Sunny stepped out of the apartment, thinking that she was hoping it wasn't going to take long to find Henry. If anything ever happened to that kid, she wouldn't know what she would do.

* * *

"_When we reach the cell, stay out of the light. And whatever you do, do not let him know your name. If he knows your name, he will have power over you."_

_Those were that guards warning to protect Snow White, Prince Charming, Rapunzel and Peter. They were all going to see the one man that they would never expect to ask for help; the Dark One, Rumpelstiltskin. Out of everyone in the group, Rapunzel was the most worried. Rumpelstiltskin is known to be a conman, so he isn't the most trusted person out there. And if there's anything she learned, all magic comes with a price. She approached Snow White, to make sure this is what she wants._

"_Snow, are you sure about this? You know this guy's a trickster. God knows what he's going to pull."_

_Snow had no problem saying it._

"_I know. And that's something I'm willing to take. For my family."_

_With that, she kept walking with everyone trailing behind. Rapunzel was still weary of Snow doing this, but there was never stopping Snow. They kept following the guard until they reached and dungeon cage. Another thing she was worried about was how Peter was taking it. Out of everyone in the group, he has to be the one who hates him more. She turned to him to see that he had a look of destruction that was about to set off. She stopped Peter before he could take another step._

"_Peter, did you really want to come with us to see him? I know how you about feel about him."_

"_More than anything."_

_He sounded so stern and serious._

"_Even with Charming and Snow White, I wasn't going to let you go anywhere near him without me."_

"_And I understand, really. It's just that when you see him, you look like you want to kill him."_

"_And you're right."_

_The way Peter sounded made Rapunzel worry that he really was going to do that when they see Rumpelstiltskin._

"_Well, you've got to try and restrain yourself. I know he's not your favorite person; he's not anyone's. Even so, right now, Snow really needs his help. Personally, I do too. All this dark magic has gone long enough right now."_

_She lifted her hand to cup his cheek, which made him lean into it._

"_You know that as well as I do."_

_Peter doesn't want to admit it, but she's right. Dark magic has cost the both of them so much. For all they knew, the queen's threat could cost them each other. After last time, that's not something he's willing to risk again. With that, he slowly leaned to and gave Rapunzel a magical kiss like he always did. Once their lips touched, it was like all his anger and rage have died down. That was another magical thing about Rapunzel other than her hair. As their lips separated, Peter leaned his forehead on hers._

"_You're right."_

_Rapunzel smiled. She was happy that Peter changed his mind._

"_Good. Now we better get going or we'll fall behind."_

_It was Peter's turn to smile. Rapunzel always makes the best out of situations._

"_All right."_

_With that finally out of the way, they ran all the way to Snow White and Charming. By the time they caught up to them, they already had their hoods up about to turn the corner to the cell holding Rumpelstiltskin. When they got behind the group, they put their hoods up and turned a corner, Rapunzel holding Peters hand along the way._

"_Rumpelstiltskin. Rumpelstiltskin! I have a question for you."_

"_No, you don't."_

_The next thing they knew, he fell from the ceiling. How was he even able to climb up there in that little cage anyway?_

"_They do. Snow White, Prince Charming, Rapunzel and young Peter Pan."_

_Clever man. And once Peter heard him say his name, his grip on Rapunzel's hand got a little tighter, showing that Peter wasn't happy with him calling him 'young.' Especially when he knew why he's barely aged after a few centuries._

"_You insult me. Step into the light and take off those ridiculous robes."_

_That's exactly what they did. Seeing as Rumpelstiltskin knew who they were, there wasn't any use hiding under the hoods anymore. The only unfortunate part is that even in the dark, they could sense him smiling that conman smile of his._

"_That's much better."_

"_We've come to ask you about the…"_

"_Yes! Yes! I know why you're here!"_

_He said it so loud, that he startled all of them. Luckily, they didn't back down._

"_You want to know about the Queen's threat."_

_Snow White, being impatient, was the one who stepped up front and asked him herself. Well, maybe not asked._

"_Tell us what you know."_

_More like demanded. However, despite the anger, impatience and desperation in her voice, Rumpelstiltskin didn't give in so easily. He never did. He just plastered on his signature grin and responded to the princess._

"_Ooh, tense, aren't we?"_

_Peter started to make a fist with his other hand. The only thing Rumpelstiltskin is being useful for right now is provoking him._

"_Fear not! For I can ease your mind. But… It's going to cost you something in return."_

_It figures. Everything they do with this man always came with a price. Peter knew that better than anyone._

"_Don't they always?"_

_Hearing that made Rumpelstiltskins smile slowly fall. Seeing Peter like this made his heart ache slightly. Ignoring that, Snow White stepped forward._

"_What do you want?"_

_And the grin came back._

"_Oh… The name of your unborn child?"_

_Now _that_ got everyone else riled up. Well, all but Snow White._

"_What?"_

"_No!"_

"_Absolutely not!"_

_All Rumpelstiltskin did was keep his grin up when he let go of the bars and stood up straight. And he was looking straight at Snow._

"_Then there's nothing to say."_

_That wasn't what Snow wanted to hear. She really wanted to know what her step-mother was up to while they had the chance. If her baby's name is all it's going to take, so be it._

"_Deal."_

_Peter, who was right next to Snow, looked to her like she was crazy. He was hoping she would change her mind._

"_Snow-"_

_She stopped his arm before he could touch her._

"_Peter! I know what I'm doing."_

_Peter could only stare at her like she was crazy. How can she agreed to this mad man when she knows what he's capable of? The only thing Peter was feeling from that was anger. He jerked his hand away from her and just walked away to the wall just to watch her handle herself, because he isn't going to help her if she regrets it. As apologetic as Snow looks, she needed to know._

"_What do you know?"_

"_The Queen has created a powerful curse. And it's coming. Soon, you'll all be in a prison. _

_Just like me, only worse. Your prison, all of our prisons, will be time."_

_Time?_

"_Time will stop, and we will be trapped. Someplace horrible, where everything we hold dear, everything we love, will be ripped from us while we suffer for all eternity. While the Queen celebrates, victorious at last. No more happy endings."_

_The queen is really going to try and stoop that low. To get rid of all of their happy endings like nothing was meant to be. Rapunzel couldn't stop fidgeting with her hands, trying to calm herself down. Seeing that, Peter walked over to her, wrapped an arm around her shoulders and grabbed one of her hands in his other. Peter had to know right now._

"_If that's the case, what can we do to fix this?"_

"_We can't do anything, young man."_

_Peter now scowled at him. Thankfully, Snow stepped in before he could try anything._

"_Who can?"_

_Rumpelstiltskin slowly reached his hand out of the cell, reaching out to Snow White's stomach._

"_That little thing, growing inside your belly."_

_Before he could even touch her stomach, Peter took his sword out to slash it away. It surprised everyone that Peter would be the one to attack. That was because Peter wasn't going to lose another thing he care about. To show it, he glared at Rumpelstiltskin, glaring madly at him._

"_One more false move, and I'll cut it off like the head of a chicken."_

_Before he could make another move, Charming grabbed Peter by the shoulder and pulled him back gently. Because another move or not, Peter would cut a part of him anyway._

"_Hey, hey, hey. Stay back and relax."_

_Rumpelstiltskin wasn't happy with what Peter did, but he didn't show it. Instead, he put on a poker face and explained what to do with Snow Whites baby._

"_The infant is our only hope. Get the child to safety. Get the child to safety and on its twenty-eighth birthday, the child will return. The child will find you and a final battle will begin."_

_He finished that part with a loud laugh. Peter now _really _wanted to smack that mad look off of him, but Charming was still holding him back._

"_We heard enough. We're leaving."_

_Charming pulled Peter back with him to leave while Rapunzel lightly touched Snow White to gesture her to go. After only a few steps, they went back to each other's true loves. On the way out, they could hear Rumplestiltskin laughs turn into gasps._

"_Hey! No! We made a deal! I want her name! We had a deal!"_

_They all stopped from what he said. How could he tell Snow White's baby was a girl?_

"_I need her name! I want her name!"_

_Charming and Peter were the only ones who turned around to the mad man while Rapunzel looked to Snow White, who looked slightly pale._

"_Her? It's a boy."_

_Charming was the only who moved forward._

"_Missy… Missy… You know I'm right."_

_Indeed Snow did._

"_Tell me, what's her name?"_

_All Snow did was close her eyes and think what's best. After a good bit of thinking, she turned to him and looked him right in the eye. Peter was looking at her in hopes she wouldn't say it…_

"_Emma."_

… _And she did. Everyone around her was disappointed she had to tell him._

"_Her name is Emma."_

_With that, she finally walked away with Charming right behind her. Rapunzel was waiting for Peter to move, he was about to walk away with one last glare before he was stopped._

"_Now, Peter. What would you do for family?"_

_He swiftly turned around to him with a look that could really kill. Rumpelstiltskin still kept up that mad hatter smile._

"_You wouldn't want your father to be hurt, now would you?"_

_And that was the last straw. Peter walked right up to the cell before Rapunzel could stop him. Once he did make it to the cell, the first thing he did was grab Rumpelstiltskin by the collar and pull him to his furious face._

"_You listen to me, mad man. As far as I'm concerned, my father died. Killed by the Dark One and left my brother possibly for dead. For a long time, I've waited for him, just to find out that he has been nothing but a con man when he could've been looking for his sons. Instead, he gave into magic to prove a point that was completely useless to attempt. I. Have. No. Father."_

_Leaving it all like that, he shoved the man away and marched out of the caves angrily, leaving Rumpelstiltskin looking absolutely devastated. Rapunzel was following him, startled with what he just did._

"_Peter, that was cruel. Don't you think that was too much?"_

"_I needed to say it, before it was too late."_

"_But he's your father."_

_Furious, he stopped and quickly turned to Rapunzel, grabbing her roughly by the arm. Seeing Peter do that really scared her. He's never done that to her before. The look in his eyes was even worse. It almost reminded her of the eyes of a dragon; dangerous and scary._

"_He made me, he brought to this world, he raised me for only a short amount of time, he's done the same for Baelfire, but Rumpelstiltskin will never be my father."_

_Saying each word made his grip tighten even more. So much, that Rapunzel couldn't take it anymore._

"_Peter! Peter, that hurts!"_

_Hearing her pleading voice made him come back to his senses. Seeing her face in pain made him sick, so quickly, he let go, but it didn't make anything any better. Rapunzel was holding onto her arm, looking scared at Peter. Peter could only stare at the hand that hurt the girl he loves and make her scared of her. He looked back up at her, looking remorseful and sad. He reached his other hand to her, hoping she will let him._

"_Punz-"_

"_No."_

_She backed away before even so much as a finger could touch her. She wasn't that scared of him, but she can't forgive him that easily. Peter almost looked upset that she backed away from him. Even though he understood, it still hurt._

"_I know you're mad, really, but you can't just be angry at me for trying to help. Because at least your father is here."_

_That part hurt. Peter couldn't believe he was so naïve enough to forget about Rapunzel and her real parents._

"_Don't touch me again until you've really calmed down."_

_With that, she walked away, leaving Peter alone in the tunnel to think. He couldn't even face the back of her. He felt too ashamed to even try, because he was too selfish to consider how she felt._

* * *

Sunny wasted no time running to Regina's. Not because she was scared of her or anything, but because she kept thinking about Henry. She was praying on the inside that nothing really DID happen to that boy. She always saw him as the little brother she wished she had, so the last thing she wants is for him to get hurt.

At any rate, she made it right in front of Regina's house before they could even blink. Luckily, the door was open, so she wasted no time in going into the house. Once she did, she found the mayor leaning on a door way, talking to the sheriff. She jogged lightly over to her because Sunny was already out of breathe from all that running.

"Where… where is… Henry?"

She tiredly looked to the sheriff.

"Hi, Graham."

He smiled slightly at her before giving a smile wave 'hello.'

"Hey, Sunny."

Sunny took a few more deep breathes before she finally stood up straight. Once she did, she started over.

"Now… tell me what happened."

Regina grinned wickedly and told her what happened.

"Gladly. After you left, I simply thought it was only fair to give Henry a good night kiss. Like a mother always should when their child goes to bed, right?"

Both Graham and Sunny nodded.

"And I did. When I came in, he was sound asleep."

That was confusing. If he was in bed, how can he be missing?

"So I went over to give him one. The only problem is that once I went over to his bed, I noticed something."

Graham was the one who asked.

"What?"

She moved her arm to go behind a wall, then she pulled something out. Sunny was shocked to see that it wasn't just something, it was someone. Of all the people it had to be in Storybrooke, it was her old friend, Tate Childs.

"It was THIS kid in Henry's bed."

Sunny went from shocked to disbelief. It could only mean one thing; Henry went somewhere and Tate was covering for him while Henry was doing something. She could hear Graham sighing, but Sunny still couldn't even move from what she's looking at. Tate started to grin sheepishly while getting out of the mayor hold.

"Well, thanks for the lovely evening, but it's about time for me to go home. Good night."

Before he could even take a step, Regina had him by the jacket again.

"Not so fast."

Tate just groaned. It was then that Sunny could move. The first thing she did now that she could move again was hit the said boy in the back of his head. Regina was caught off guard by that, Graham was surprised, and Tate was gipping the back of his head. Sunny was much stronger then she looked.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"I get a phone call about Henry to find out he's missing, and now I find out you were covering for him tonight? What the hell is wrong with you, Tate?"

"People say a lot of things actually."

He started smirking at his retort, only to make Sunny hit him again.

"Ow!"

"I ran 6 miles to get here because I was worried out of my head about Henry. Why are you at his house pretending to be him?"

"Right now, I'd rather be at my own house actually sleeping."

And that earned him another hit. Only this time, Sunny made a fist, which made it hurt more. Enough for Tate to grip his head with both hands.

"Oooww!"

"Henry's a 10 year old kid. You better tell me he went to a playground."

"He didn't go there. That's your hint right now."

She was going to again, but he caught her arm before she could even touch a hair.

"And stop hitting me already."

Thankfully, he let go, but Sunny was still angry. Regina was getting angrier.

"Enough stalling. Where is my son?"

Tate was trying to come up with the best excuse he can before facing more of both of the girls wrath. Before he could even think of anything, he looked out of the windows by the doors and saw Henry with a tall, blonde woman. He smiled, knowing exactly who was with him.

"He's right outside from what I see."

Hearing that, everyone looked to the window. Sunny ran to it to see for herself. Once she looked outside, there he with a woman.

"For once, Tate's telling the truth. He's home."

Immediately, Regina let go of Tate and ran to the door. Once she opened the door, it was major relief coming from her.

"Henry!"

The minute she saw Henry was when she started running, Graham and Sunny behind her. The first thing she did give Henry a hug. While Graham was still behind her, Sunny walked up next to Henry, looking just as relieved.

"Geez, kid. Give us all real heart attacks, why don't you? We were worried sick."

Henry would've answered her if Regina wasn't crushing the daylights out of him.

"Are you okay?"

She finally let go of him, just to grab him by the shoulders.

"Where have you been?"

She stood up, curious about the woman that was with him.

"What happened?"

Sunny, too, was curious about this woman.

"And who are you?"

Suddenly, Henry answered all of those questions in one answer.

"I found my real mom."

He ran into the house once he answered. In a rude tone, by the way, but that wasn't the biggest concern. The big elephant in the yard was the fact that the blonde woman was Henry's biological mother. Regina could only stare at the woman in disbelief before she could finally say something.

"Y-you're Henry's birth mother?"

"Hi…"

Remember the term 'big elephant in the yard?' Well, it just got even bigger because absolutely no one knows what to say right now. Luckily, Graham had the balls to break some ice and slip away.

"I'll just go…check on the lad. Make sure he's alright."

With that, he left. Sunny going with him.

"I'll go too, because this got really awkward."

Before Graham went inside, Tate tried to step out. He couldn't even so much as get off the porch, because Graham grabbed him by the neck.

"Oh, no you don't, laddie. We're not done yet."

Sunny slightly glared at Tate.

"Damn right, we're not."

They both went upstairs, dragging Tate with them. First destination; Henry's room. They walked in to see the boy with his head in his hands by the window. Sunny was the one who walked in first.

"Henry."

Hearing Sunny made him look up to her. He smiled before he ran up to hug her. She laughed at how adorable he can be, even when he can be nothing but trouble. She suddenly remembered the trouble part of what he was in before she let go of him.

"Henry, what were you even thinking? You actually left Storybrooke to find your mom? Did Regina drop you on your head when she adopted you?"

He laughed at that small joke before he answered.

"I had to. She's the savior in the book."

Hearing that suddenly reminded Sunny why. It wasn't just because Henry wanted to find his real mom, but it was also because of the things he believes in the fairy tale book Mary Margaret gave him being real events. She still remembers how he told her that her real self was Rapunzel of all tales, and that her true love was Peter Pan. Well, that wasn't much of a bad thing for Sunny. Peter Pan was always one of her favorites. Still, she went along with it for his sake.

"Oh, right. Forgot about that. But, hey, next time you call for help, try asking help from someone without a rap sheet."

She said the last part while looking at Tate, who was lying on Henry's bed, reading a comic. Hearing her say rap sheet, he smiled at the fact that he was talking about him.

"Well, how was riding on a dirt bike illegal? No one got hurt."

Graham answered Tate.

"For one thing, because it wasn't your bike."

Tate rolled his eyes at Graham. He always had an answer for everything. Then again, he was the sheriff. Sunny was holding back a giggle from what Graham said, but Henry had no problem laughing at all. Of course, that only earned Henry a glare from Tate, which made the kid stop before anything else happened. Sunny could only pat him on the head before saying anything to Henry.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay. Now I gotta bounce."

She walked and talked at the same time.

"Mary Margaret has burgers for dinner, I gotta go to school with her tomorrow to help her out, and…"

She stopped at the door and looked at Tate with a smirk.

"I'd hate to see what Regina has in store for you for covering for Henry."

She quickly closed the door to avoid the comic book that he threw at her. Lucky for her, she closed it in the nick of time before that book could even hit her. While she walked away laughing, she was also worried about Tate. If they're both lucky, Regina will show mercy since Henry's home safe and sound.

* * *

"Morning, mama."

That was the first thing Emma heard when she woke up. The only person she knows with a British accent was the kid who took over as Henry. And wouldn't you know it? There was Tate right there, in the cell next to the one she's in.

"Hey, Tate!"

The both looked outside of their cells to see an old man with an Italian accent.

"Manners. We have a guest."

Tate just raised his hands up in surrender, before the old man smiled at Emma, who looked like she got hit with a hammer. Well, that can happen to someone who was in a car accident.

"So you are, uh, Henry's mother? How lovely for him to have you back in his life."

"Actually, I was just dropping him off."

Tate wasn't too happy with that. He stood up and felt like he was going to explode.

"Why?"

Emma turned to Tate.

"I didn't cover for him last night and then get thrown in this jail cell as punishment just for you to leave him. A lot of kids like Henry want their parents."

"He is right."

Both Emma and Tate turned to Marco.

"I'd give anything for one. My wife and I, we tried for many years. But, uh, he was not meant to be."

Tate knew about that. That's actually why he would want to be staying at Marco's. Not as an ideal perfect son, but at least Marco would have one. And Tate would actually have a father.

The moment was interrupted when they heard the door open. It was Graham coming in with a set of keys.

"Alright, Tate. If I'm going to let you out, you need to behave."

With that, he unlocked the door and opened it. Tate was finally able to walk out, but after one step out, Graham grabbed him by the arm, making Tate look at him.

"Which means, stay out of trouble with the mayor."

He rolled his eyes and pulled his arm away.

"Yeah, yeah."

Without wanting to say anything else, he left the station. Looking back to make sure none was behind him, he sprinted into a run to the one place no one would expect him to be in; school.

* * *

Tate made it to a school, but it wasn't a high school. He dropped out of it and swore to never go back. It was actually Henry's elementary school. It's a mystery to anyone why he would be there, but he always had a good reason. He stopped in the hallway and found the teacher's classroom he was looking for; Ms. Mary Margaret Blanchard. He smiled and leaned on the door way and watched and listened to what she was teaching. And from the looks of it, it had to do what bird houses.

"As we build our bird houses, remember – what you're making is a home, not a cage. The bird is free and will do what it will. This is for them, not us. They're loyal creatures. Sunny, if you will?"

Sunny walked over with a blue bird in her hand, smiling at it.

"There is a reason birds have wings; to fly away and be free. And making these houses will be an example of freedom. Because like Ms. Blanchard said, these aren't cages. They're to show that we care about them, that we want to help them. To do that, we can give them a place to stay and have their babies. If we show them we care, then they'll be there for us in more ways than you think. Observe."

She now had the bird stand on her fingers while she brought the hand out of the window while everyone, even Tate, watch what she was doing. What they saw next was enchanting. The blue bird flew out of Sunny's hand to the blue birdhouse. Sunny came back into the classroom, smiling.

"If you love them and they love you, they will always find you."

She said the last part while looking at Tate, who was slowly starting to smile at her. Another moment was interrupted, but by the school bell. All the kids got out of their seats while Mary Margaret said something to them.

"We'll pick this up after recess. No running!"

While they were all leaving, Tate came inside to go to the girls. Before he went closer, he saw them thanking a little girl for bringing them both pears. Mary Margaret was pretty, but the way Sunny smiled always made Tate's heart melt. She had to be one of the most amazing girls he's ever met. She was nice, good to people and animals, has a great singing voice, and always found the bright side of a certain situation. She was ideal to a lot of people. Even him.

And once again, an interrupted moment, and it was by the mayor of all things. She was coming into the classroom, none too happy, but that didn't bother Mary.

"Miss Mills. What are you doing here?"

"Where's my son?"

She wasted no time asking the teacher right away. Of course, Sunny was confused on where he was this time. The only idea that came to her made her turned to Tate. All he did was raise his arms.

"I had nothing to do with this one."

She was still suspicious of him, but went back to Regina.

"Regina, we don't know. We thought he was home sick."

"You think I'd be here if he was?"

Tate glared at the mayor for talking to Sunny like that. It's not like she knew what was going on, so there was no reason to swipe at her. Regina remembered why she even came and turned back at Mary Margaret.

"Did you give him your credit card so he can find her?"

They all started to turn to Emma. The only feeling Mary Margaret had was confusion. She didn't even know what was going on here.

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

"I'm his… I'm his…"

Emma couldn't even say it right because of Regina, so Tate spilled it out for her.

"His real mother, Emma."

Mary Margaret was surprised. She wasn't expecting this to be Henry's personal home project. She went to her purse to see if he really did have her credit card. From the looks of that, Emma didn't think she knew.

"Did you know about that one, Tate?"

He shook his head at Emma.

"Not this time."

Both he and Sunny looked at Mary's credit card to see that her credit card was missing. It made Tate smirk proudly while taking the wallet.

"The kid is slick as oil. I'm starting to rub off on him."

That resulted in Sunny closing the wallet, trapping his thumb in it, making him yelp in pain.

"That's sounds more like a curse than a blessing."

She gave the wallet back to Mary Margaret while expressing her honest opinion about this mess.

"Time I was honest, Mary. I'm beginning to think that book was a bad idea."

Hearing about the book again was now making Regina impatient.

"What in the hell is this book I keep hearing about?"

Sunny was the one who explained before she exploded.

"Okay, calm down. We just gave Henry a book of old fairy tales last week. That's it. The thing is Henry is a really special boy, you know that. He's smart, creative, but he's also lonely."

It took Sunny a lot of courage to say that to the mayor. It even surprised Mary and Tate that she said it out loud. Even so, she was right. Henry really was lonely for a boy his age.

"We thought he would need it."

Regina just gave Sunny a stone, cold, stern look.

"What he needs is a dose of reality."

It was taking a lot for Tate to not do anything to her. All he could do right now is clench his fist in anger.

"This is a waste of time."

Much to their relief, she turned to leave. Unfortunately, she knocked over some textbooks along the way. As well as giving Emma some parting words.

"Have a nice trip back to Boston."

Mary and Sunny went over to pick up the books. Emma was going to help, but she noticed Tate was about the follow the mayor with a bookend in his left hand. Emma knew exactly what he was going to do with that, so she stopped him before he could even get out the door.

"Hey, hey. No, no, no, no, no. Put that thing down, kid."

Saying that, she took the bookend out of his hand and put it on one of the desks. Sunny was relieved that she stopped him. Because he really would've done it. Emma wasn't done with him though, since she still has his wrist in her hand.

"Are you out of your mind? You already have a record. Putting Homicide on the list isn't exactly going to help."

All he could do was look at her angrily. She made it sound like she actually cared. The problem is if there's anyone she needs to care about, it should be Henry. He yanked his arm free and walked out of the building before he could hit something else. Sunny was worried when he did that. She figured out exactly why he helped Henry find his mom; because he doesn't have any parents of his own. God knows what he's going to do now, so she decided to do what's right.

"I'll go after him."

Mary nodded to her and off she went. They were old friends and she was more worried about him then anything; no matter what others in Storybrooke say.

* * *

Unbeknownst to them, Tate on the edge of one the docks, looking like he was in deep thought. Technically, he was, and it had to do with Emma. Why did she stop him like she cared about him? It's not like he hasn't gotten into trouble before. Besides, she's not even his parent. She's Henry's.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

He turned around to see that it was Sunny behind him, looking at him with a worried face. It was a face he hated to see on her. He tried to turn back to the waters to not look at that face, but now it was lodged in his mind. He had to tell her.

"Emma was going to leave last night, wasn't she?"

She was walking slowly when she answered.

"I can't say. I wasn't there. Why?"

"Because she shouldn't be leaving. A mother should never leave her child."

She finally got next to him. Her eyebrows were furrowed in confusion with what he said though.

"What do you mean?"

He stood up to Sunny still looking angry about Emma.

"I got in trouble for Henry to go all the way to Boston to go find her. I didn't want to be thrown in a jail cell as my own punishment, but I wanted to risk it for Henry to find his real mother. After everything we both went though, how can she go back on her son when he needs her the most?"

He can say that all he wants, but he wasn't fooling Sunny.

"Is that for Henry's benefit or yours?"

It was Tate's turn to be confused.

"Excuse me?"

"You know I'm not stupid. I put it together last night. You didn't do this for Henry because you wanted to help him find his mother. You also did this because you know how it feels when you don't have a real parent around."

Tate just scoffed at her for that, which is actually what he does when someone's right about him. It's just because he doesn't want to admit she was right. He has no parents, no family and he's always treated like dirt. Given the situation, he couldn't lie to her. Another admirable thing about Sunny was how perspective she was.

"Okay, so maybe I did. But you couldn't blame me. I've never even met my parents. I stay with Ruby and her grandmother when I need to. Henry is lucky to know that he found his mother, because I never will."

"And I understand that. I don't have parents of my own eith-"

"No, you don't."

He cut her off so quickly, he surprised her. He also seemed a bit peeved.

"We both lost our parents, but which one of us got adopted while the other one lives in an old hut in the woods? Which one of us gets praised by the town while they look at the other one like some kind of pest? You've lived with Mary Margaret since you were 5. I've had to take care of myself with no one to help me. At least you have a mother figure, when women can't even look me in the eye."

With that, he sat back down in a huff, rubbing his hands in his hair in frustration. Sunny was now looking at him sympathetically. He really had it hard compared to her. But then, an idea came to her. She sat down next to him and talked to him while looking at the sea.

"You know, Emma was probably the first women to actually stop you from doing anything crazy besides me."

Speaking of crazy, Tate looked at Sunny like she was. What did Emma have to do with this?

"So?"

"So…"

She now looked at him with a genuine smile.

"… I think you might've found another women who does see a future for you."

He started to laugh a bit, while rolling his eyes, turning back to the sea. He really DID think she was crazy.

"Really? Then enlighten me. Who was the first to believe in me?"

She still kept that smile on her face. She wasn't surprised that he didn't know. So she laid her head on his shoulder and just flat out told him who.

"Me."

* * *

_Rapunzel was in another part of the castle, away from the battles that were probably going on inside right now. She was just sitting by the window listening to her music box that Peter made for her. He made it before she had the courage to leave her tower. The music box was playing the flower song she used to sing when she still had her hair. Right now, she wish she still had it since everyone in the castle is getting hurt. Her bad thoughts were suddenly done when Peter came into the room with a smile._

"_Emma's gone. She made it to the wardrobe."_

_Rapunzel stood up, gasping with a bright smile on her face. She was filled with hope once again. Good really will win. Peter suddenly stopped his excitement when he heard the music. The music of something he made. He slowly walked over to the box, stunned that she still had it._

"_I thought it was gone forever when we stopped Gothel."_

_Rapunzel smiled softly at him, even though he was still staring at the box._

"_I took it with me when we left. It's our song after all."_

_He started to smile when she said that. But now, it made him feel even worse for what he did in the dungeons. It was time he apologized, so he turned around and looked at her with guilt in his eyes._

"_I wasn't thinking of your family."_

_Her smile started to go down slowly. She knew where he was going with this._

"_I was thinking of my own feelings so much that I wasn't thinking about you."_

_He slowly walked to her, in case she was going to walk back. So far, nothing. Once he was right in front of her, he took this as an opportunity to take both of hers hands in his. He was happy that she didn't pull back, but he still looked at her face and said it._

"_I'm sorry."_

_Rapunzel was glad to hear him say all that, but unfortunately, she had something to say too. She looked at the ground and shook her head, signifying it was fine._

"_It's not your fault."_

_With that, she looked _him_ in the eye._

"_I think I should also apologize to you."_

_Peter furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. What could she have to apologize for?_

"_When I found out Gothel wasn't my mother, I was thinking of what my real parents looked like. I know I'm the lost princess of the Corona Kingdom, but we never had a chance to go back there so I could meet my parents. When I saw that you still had the chance to see your father, I thought you would've had the chance to say good-bye. Unlike me."_

_Before she said anything else, she let go of Peter's hands and wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder. She felt relief when his arms went around her._

"_I was selfish too. Can you forgive me?"_

"_Of course I can."_

_For a while they stayed like that, basked in each other warmth. That is, until Rapunzel felt something pushing against her ribs, and it started to hurt. She pulled away, confused as to what was rubbing against her. She saw what it was in plain sight; the necklace out of acorns she made for him a few years ago. She could not believe it._

"_You still have it."_

_Peter was confused until he looked down and realized she was talking about the necklace he was wearing. He smiled gently and then gripped onto it like a lifeline._

"_I never took it off. And I see you still have yours."_

_She smiled as he noticed the necklace she was wearing. It was a silver necklace with a silver flower in the shape of a lily hanging from it. It was one her favorite birthday presents from Peter._

"'_I never took it off."_

_He smiled back at her genuinely. Next thing she knew, he was leaning in for a kiss, when suddenly…_

_BAM!_

_They both quickly looked outside to side a strong purple fog. The only thing that came to their minds of what it could be was the curse; the queen has won this round. Rapunzel snuggled herself to Peter, in fear of what could happen. But Peter wasn't backing down. He grabbed her by the shoulders and had her look him in the eyes._

"_No matter what happens, always remember this; I love you. And no curse alive, not even this one, will ever stop me from doing that."_

_Rapunzel's fear suddenly went down because of his words. His love for her was that strong. She smiled, crying tears of happiness and responded;_

"_And I you."_

_With that, they gave each other one last kiss. And never pulled apart, not even when the curse came into the castle and surrounded the two lovers, taking them into a new world; a world without magic._

* * *

It reached nighttime in Storybrooke, and Tate was on his way to Granny Lucas' home a place to sleep since it's getting colder and the hut he's staying in isn't going to cover it. After talking to Sunny, Tate actually felt like he could be happy. He hasn't stopped smiling since Sunny told him she had faith in him. All that went through his mind was that it might've been a sign that she actually likes him. There really might've been hope for him in this world. Unfortunately, as he was almost to the porch, he bumped into something. Or rather, someone.

Of all the people in the town, it was Mr. Gold. There was always something about him that Tate didn't like. It was like he did something wrong, but he doesn't know what. It wasn't just that though. Lately, he's been looking at Tate like he was wanting to say something. It was really creepy.

"Watch it, Gold."

To be honest, Tate did feel like he owed the apology since his head was the one in the clouds, but the old man just gave him the creeps. Little did he know, Mr. Gold was watching him walk away in sadness and love for the boy. Because he remembers everything; as Rumpelstiltskin, Tate as Peter Pan, and him as Peters father.

By the time Tate opened the door, he saw Emma talking to Granny Lucas. He started to smile a little. It means she was actually staying.

"Who's that?"

Ruby answered her.

"Mr. Gold. He owns this place."

"The inn?"

"You wish."

Emma looked to the door and saw Tate at the door.

"Gold owns the whole town. He makes a lot for a man who runs an antique shop."

Emma was shocked that a man like that could actually own a whole town. Ignoring that, Tate went up to Granny Lucas.

"Sorry for intruding, but it's getting cold tonight and I was wondering if my room is still there."

Ruby looked a little sheepish at that, while her grandmother started to glare. Tate noticed that.

"What's the matter?"

There was no hiding it from Tate, so the old woman just flat out told him.

"Unfortunately, it's temporarily unavailable, Tate."

Tate was shocked. How is it not open? Granny Lucas has always had that room reserved for him when he needed it the most.

"Why not?"

"Well…"

She looked to Ruby with a look.

"… Ruby had some friends over the other day, and they trashed it till it looked like a condemned building."

Tate looked to Ruby, almost upset that she would be so crazy to do that. Now because of her recklessness, he doesn't have a place to stay. Luckily, Emma caught onto things quickly and did something about it.

"Actually, make it a room for two. The kid is with me."

They all looked to Emma like she was crazy, mostly Tate, except he was mostly surprised by her antic. No one has ever done this for him before. Everyone else besides Sunny thought of him as nothing, but a trouble-making pest. So maybe Sunny was right… maybe she does care. Granny Lucas was actually smiling at the fact that Emma was giving a piece of her room to an orphaned boy.

"So, how long will you be with us?"

"A week. Just a week."

"Great."

The old woman turned around and grabbed a room key to give to Emma, which she gladly took.

"Welcome to Storybrooke."

* * *

**FINALLY! This took a while to write. And I must warn you guys that my chapter updates will vary, due to college. On the plus side, maybe chapter 2 will come soon since I just started my break.**

**COLLEGE WARNING: NEVER take statistics! I don't know my total grade right now, but I hope to never take it again. It was a nightmare!**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this! I will update as soon as I can. Later, gators!**


	2. The Thing You Love Most

**I do not own 'Once Upon a Time' or the Rapunzel from 'Tangled.' I just own the way I made her in this.**

* * *

Sunny was finally up and ready to leave. She doesn't have to help Mary Margaret today. She also has a part-time job at the art store, 'New Life Colors.' She's always loved drawing. It makes her feel like she's making another world when she draws a picture.

"Sunny, are you up?"

Mary Margaret yelled up to her, which made Sunny yell back.

"Yeah, I'm on my way down."

And she did. She left her room and went downstairs to have some breakfast. She was hoping for something fast because she had to get to work early today. Luckily, she found a bowl of cereal on the table waiting for her. Thank god, Mary Margaret knew her well.

"Sweet. You never let me down, Mary."

Mary Margaret smiled at her from the window. Then she saw something that she didn't expect.

"Sunny, can you come over here? There's something you've got to see."

Sunny walked over with her bowl of cereal and looked out the window to find what Mary Margaret was talking about. She stopped chewing when she saw what she meant. Unbelievingly, she saw that the Storybrooke clock tower was moving again. That clock hasn't moved for a long time and now it started working. How could it have moved all of a sudden? Magic?

* * *

_SLAM!_

Tate woke up suddenly to a door slam. He looked up from the floor to see Emma at the door, looking like she wanted to kill something. Whatever it was, it was actually starting to concern Tate.

"Emma?"

Emma gasped and turned around to see Tate awake.

"Oh, hey. Sorry, did I wake you?"

"It's kind of hard to sleep when you hear a door slam hard enough to wake up all of Maine."

Emma wasn't going to hold back a laugh at that.

"Well, sorry. I'm just a little upset right now. Your mayor was just here, threatening me to leave town."

NOW Tate was fully awake.

"What?"

Emma nodded with a look.

"Yeah. But don't worry. The only thing she's doing threatening me is make me stay longer. I'm not leaving anytime soon."

Tate sighed in relief at that. Because the last thing she wanted was for her to leave. For some reason, it doesn't feel like it's just for Henry anymore. It's because she's been the first mother figure he's ever had, and she's only been here for a day. Apparently, he was thinking so much, he didn't even notice her put on a jacket and nearly stepping out.

"Wait."

Emma turned to Tate, confused at what he wanted to make her stop. He just put he leather jacket on with a smile.

"How about I give you a small tour of the town, as a thank you for letting me stay here with you?"

Emma was rather take back by that offer. According to Graham, he was the towns trouble-maker. However, seeing that grateful look in his eyes, she could tell immediately that he wasn't what people said he was. If anything, he was just like her.

"I'd like that."

* * *

After only a few places, Tate took Emma to Granny's for some breakfast.

"I know they probably have good cafe's in Boston, but nobody has food like this place."

Emma just nodded with what he said, considering she wasn't paying much attention. She was actually trying to read the paper, holding an apple from the mayor while Tate was eating his hotcakes. Food was on Emma, of course.

"Here you go."

Ruby came right in before Emma could take a bite of the apple. She looked on the counter to see a cup of hot chocolate with cinnamon. Which surprised her because not a lot of people like it like that. Tate was the one who said something about it though.

"Ruby, neither of us ordered hot chocolate with cinnamon."

Ruby just smiled, flirtatiously.

"Yeah, I know. This woman has an admirer."

Emma and Tate just looked at each other before they looked behind them to see Graham sitting in a booth. Now they both looked at each other with a knowing look an their face, saying the exact same thing.

"Sheriff."

Emma picked up the cup and walked over, Tate following just for the show. However, it was only Emma Graham noticed. When he saw her, it gave him a good reason to smile.

"Ah. So you've decided to stay?"

"Observant. Important for a cop."

"It's good news for our tourist business, it's bad for our local signage."

Tate shook his head at the bad joke.

"I'm guessing girls don't find you funny."

That was when Graham finally noticed Tate.

"What are you doing here?"

"Emma treated to me to breakfast. Now I'm just here for the show."

After saying that, Tate put on a 'smart-ass' grin, which made Graham roll his eyes. Now Emma had to talk to Graham before anything else happened between the two.

"Look, the cocoa was a nice gesture, and I am impressed that you guessed that I like cinnamon on my chocolate because most people don't, but I am not here to flirt. So thank you, but no thank you."

With that, she put the cup of cocoa on the table. Little did she know, Graham was confused the whole time.

"I didn't send it."

"I did."

They all looked up to see Henry a couple of booths behind Graham. He grabbed his bag and walked over to them.

"I like cinnamon, too."

Tate just chuckled at Henry's antic. He was getting smarter than ever.

"This is exactly why you're my favorite kid, Henry."

They high-fived for that, but Henry wasn't off the hook with Emma.

"Don't you have school?"

"Duh. I'm ten."

Another chuckle from Tate. Definitely his favorite.

"Walk me."

"Well, Tate's actually showing me around town."

As mush as Tate wants to keep up with the tour, this is Henry's mother. She needs to get to know him.

"It's okay. Walk Henry to school. I'm going to go see how Sunny's doing at her job anyway. Later, kid."

Henry just nodded at Tate as he walked out. Suddenly, Emma just realized something.

"Wait a minute. Shouldn't they be in school too?"

"Not really. Sunny graduated early, so she works at the art store now. Tate's a drop-out."

That made Graham say something.

"A big shame for that too. Instead of getting a diploma, he's got me arresting him 24-7. Can never figure out how he became a lost cause."

Now that was something Emma never wanted to hear from a man of the law. She went right to his face to tell him off.

"Listen to me, sheriff. I wouldn't so quick to judge people like that. That kid is living alone with no one to look after him. Obviously from what I can see, I'm the only one around here who's getting to know Tate enough to know that he's a nice kid who is misunderstood. My advice, stop talking crap about him just because of his actions and actually get to know him. If not, leave him alone."

That caught Graham off guard, but Emma didn't care. She just took Henry and took him to school.

* * *

Sunny was still in the art store, working like she should be. She was putting away flat-ended paint brush when she heard to bell.

"Welcome to 'New Life Colors.' Acrylics are half off this week."

She turned around to see that the customer was actually Tate, no doubt coming in to see her again. He always came to the art store just to hang out with her. She's not complaining about it though. She always felt refreshed whenever Tate came in to chat.

"That's nice to hear. The only problem is I don't know what an acrylic is."

That made Sunny laugh.

"Hey, Tate."

"Hi, Sunny."

He walked over to her to help put away some brushes, which made her smile. Tate was always a nice guy, even if he doesn't always show it. Speaking of nice...

"So, I heard you gave Emma a small tour of the town."

Tate nodded with a smile.

"Yeah. She rented a room at Granny's and she paid extra for me to stay with her. I figured it was only fair that I showed her around since she's staying for a while."

That caught Sunny off guard. She had no idea Emma did that for Tate.

"She did that?"

Tate stopped what he was doing and looked at Sunny with a genuine smile.

"Yeah. That was the first time anybody has been that nice to me. Besides you, of course."

That made Sunny sad to hear. She hated it when Tate says something like that. She understands that he finds his way into trouble a lot, but that didn't mean he has to get treated the way he does. It's upsetting and cruel. She has offered to talk to Mary Margaret about letting him move in, but Tate was as stubborn as a mule. He wasn't going to impose like that no matter how many offers he gets for it. Although, it does make her happy that there's finally someone else treating him right; like a real person.

"I'm glad. Speaking of Emma, where is she now? I know Storybrooke is small, but not THAT small."

She said that while going behind the desk with the register. Tate did follow her.

"I know. While we were getting breakfast, Henry showed up for her to take him to school."

Sunny nodded.

"That's nice."

Suddenly, Sunny remembered something he wanted to ask Tate.

"By the way, about Henry, have you heard his theory about the town?"

Tate had to laugh at that. Is the anyone in town who doesn't know about that book?

"Who hasn't? He told me about it before he left to find Emma. Everyone in Storybrooke as a Fairy Tale character. Does he think your one too?"

"Oh, he thinks I'm one, alright."

That made Tate curious.

"Which one?"

Sunny bit her lip, thinking whether or not she should tell him. She didn't want him to laugh because it was ridiculous, but it couldn't possibly be as worse then anyone else who might be in the book so she leaned in on the desk, motioned Tate to come closer, then she actually told him who Henry thinks she is.

"He thinks I'm Rapunzel."

Tate's face remained the same; curious eyes and a chesire cat grin. He actually remained like that for a few more seconds before he moved his head to get a better view of the back of Sunny's head. She laugh at his antic and rubbed the back of her head. Mary Margaret did the exact same thing to her when she said it.

"Yeah, I know. Not much of a comparison to a teenage girl with a pixie cut."

"Absolutely."

Sunny finally stopped laughing and asked Tate about him in the book.

"What about you?"

Tate kept a big-ass grin and shook his head, meaning he doesn't want to tell. Too bad for him, Sunny doesn't give up so easily.

"Come on, Tate. Tell me. Who did Henry say you were?"

He shook his head some more.

"No, I don't like it."

"Please? I told you who I was. It's only fair."

He still smiled, but he was actually driven into a corner. He really doesn't want to say, but she was right; it's only fair he tells her since she did him. So he sighed before telling her.

"Peter Pan."

Tate still had his smile on, but Sunny's started to drop slowly in shock. Henry told her a few other details about Rapunzel in the book; one of them being that Peter Pan was supposed to be her true love. So if Tate was Peter Pan and she was Rapunzel, does that mean they're soul mates in real life too?

"Sunny? Are you okay?"

She finally snapped out of it when Tate started talking again. He was looking at her confused and a little concerned. Sunny barely daydreams, so it kind of worried Tate a bit.

"Y-yeah. I'm okay."

"Are you sure?"

She smiled at Tate, thankful for being worried about her.

"You're sweet. I promise you I'm alright."

Tate started to smile back in relief. The last thing he wanted for Sunny was for something to happen to her. Especially since he liked her. He doesn't even know that she likes him back. In fact, they started to just stare into each other's eye right now.

_RRRRIIIIIINNNNGGG!_

They both jumped when they heard the stores phone ring. Unfortunately, it also broke any connection they probably had. Sighing, Sunny walked over to the phone and answered it, while Tate glared at the ceiling mumbling 'always at the worst time.'

"'New Life Colors.' This is Sunny. How may I help you? Mary, what is it?"

What Sunny heard was the last thing she would expect.

"Arrested!?"

* * *

Sunny ran as fast as she could to the police station, Tate following her once he heard Emma got arrested. They were there just in time when they saw Mary Margaret with Henry running into the building. They went in with them to see Graham taking Emma's mug shot.

"Henry! Henry, what are you doing here?"

Mary Margaret answered Graham.

"His mother told him what happened."

Tate just rolled his eyes at that.

"Well, that's no surprise."

It wasn't until Tate spoke that Graham noticed he and Sunny were there.

"Okay, what are you two doing here?"

"Mary Margaret called me at work. Tate was with me when she did."

Graham nodded at that, but Emma wasn't listening to anymore of this. She had to tell Henry what really happened.

"Henry, I don't know what she said-"

"You're a genius."

That was confusing for everyone. Why would Henry think it was genius for his mom to get arrested?

"I know what you were up to. You were gathering intel for Operation Cobra."

He was whispering the codename, but everyone in the room could still hear them. After Sunny heard it, she looked to Tate, mouthing _'Cobra?'_ From the way he looked and shrugged, he looked just as confused. So was everyone else. All, but Emma, that is.

"I'm sorry. I'm a bit lost."

"It's need to know, Sheriff. And all you need to know is that Miss Blanchard's going to bail her out."

That surprised everyone, enough for them to look at Mary Margaret. Emma was the first to say to confirm.

"You are?"

Then Sunny.

"You are?"

And lastly, Tate.

"Why are you?"

Honestly, it was because of Henry, but she couldn't just say that. Otherwise, Graham probably wouldn't let her out. But there was another reason why.

"I trust you."

Emma was rather caught off guard when she said that, but she didn't want to talk about it right now. She actually had something else to do.

"Well, if you can uncuff me, I have something to do."

And that's what Graham did. Once the cuffs were off and Graham took Mary and the others to sort out the bail money, Emma stopped Tate to ask him an important question.

"Kid, you know where I get a chainsaw?"

Tate was rather taken back by that question. He didn't know what was going on through her mind, but he took her to where she could get one anyway.

* * *

It was night time once again. Sunny invited Tate to stay over for a while to talk about what happened. Mary Margaret didn't mind him in Sunny's room, so long as it was kept PG in there, which they did since Sunny was sitting on her bed and Tate on her desk chair. Needless to say, Sunny was beyond flabbergasted to hear what Emma actually did with a chainsaw.

"She cut down a couple of branches from the mayors apple trees!?"

Tate was smiling the whole time he told the story. And he may have laughed a couple of times.

"Right to end of the whole branch! I don't understand why _I_ didn't think of that sooner!"

"Maybe because you'd be arrested again! Do you even realize what Emma just got herself into?"

"It was the mayor she went after. I know better than anyone. Even so, it didn't stop her the first time. Besides, if it makes you feel any better, she got kicked out of the inn for getting arrested. No doubt Regina called the place."

Sunny was now shocked the Emma was thrown out at Granny's. That means Tate doesn't have the room either.

"Hold on. Now she doesn't have a place to stay? YOU don't have a place to stay?"

"It's alright. It's not as cold as it was yesterday. I can sleep back in the hut."

"It still doesn't seem comfortable. I can still talk to Mary Margaret about-"

"Sunny, no! I told you before; this place is small enough as it is. Another room or not, I'm not going to intrude. Besides, one boy and two girls; can you see how that doesn't add up well?"

He talked about the boys and girls things while moving his hands like a scale. It still didn't make Sunny any better. Tate could tell by her groaning while falling onto her bed pillow.

"I'm sorry, Sunny. I appreciate you trying, really, but I'll be okay."

Even if he said that, Sunny didn't want to believe him. No one should be living the way he does now, not even him.

"I know, but still."

Tate was about to reason some more until he heard a bell chime. He went to look out the window to see the it was the towns clock tower, which read 6:30. That meant he had to leave.

"We'll talk about this tomorrow. It's getting late."

Sunny sat up again to stop him.

"But-"

Tate put up a hand, which means that he doesn't want her to say a word about it.

"Not a word. I've stayed there for as long as I can remember, I'll be fine for another day."

With that, he left Sunny's room, missing her groan all over again. As he went downstairs, he noticed Emma was with Mary Margaret at the table.

"Good night, girls."

As Tate opened the front door, he turned back at Emma.

"Oh, and Emma."

Emma turned and looked to Tate. He was smiling like he wanted something.

"Next time, I want a turn with that chainsaw on the tree."

Mary was surprised to hear the he was there with Emma, while Emma just looked at the boy looking tired for the day.

"Thanks kid, but I don't think I'm chopping down another tree anytime soon."

She made sure Mary Margaret wasn't looking at her before she winked at Tate. Tate was just smiling before he went out the door, then out of the building. He never even noticed that Sunny was watching him to make sure he was leaving safely. He still doesn't even realize how much he worries her when he stays in that hut. She couldn't take it anymore and went to see if there was something Mary Margaret could do.

"By the way, what's the story on Tate and Sunny?"

That was when she stopped where she was. Emma was probably the only person to ask about her and Tate. In fact, she's never heard Mary Margaret say what she thinks of Tate. Curious, she stayed at the top of the stairs and listened to what she had to say.

"They're old friends. They always seem like opposites to everyone in town, but they've been the best of friends for a long time."

"Yeah, I noticed. Can I ask about Tate? Graham told me about he tends to cause some trouble in town."

"Yeah, but I think it's because he's mad inside. When I say he and Sunny are opposites, I mean more then just personality wise. They're both orphans, but I let Sunny move in with me while no one's even bothered to help Tate. Sunny's with me, Tate's on his own. She's got half the town, he's has no one."

"He's preaching to the choir."

Sunny was shocked. Emma's an orphan?

"But Sunny doesn't seem to have a problem with him."

"Like I said; they're old friends. And he's a lot nicer than people give him credit for. People just don't see it."

Sunny started to smile, because it sounded like Mary Margaret does see it.

"From what I'm hearing, you do. So why not let him stay here?"

"Don't get me wrong. I want him to, but I've heard Tate and Sunny talk about it and Tate doesn't want to move in. He won't come to me and ask himself or anything, and I can't force him. Otherwise, he'll just get into more trouble, so there's not much I can do."

It still saddens Sunny when she hears about Tate being alone like that, but it makes her really happy to know that Mary Margaret sees the good in Tate. Now that that was settled, she decided to go to her room and take a shower. The first thing she did was take off the necklace she always wore; a silver necklace with a flower charm at the end of it.

* * *

Tate walked into the hut he was staying in, shivering at the cold wind blowing in. Maybe he lied to Sunny about the nighttime being warm tonight, but she doesn't need to worry about him. He never wants her to. Not because he thought of it as charity or anything; he just doesn't like that pleading look on her face. He tried forgetting about while he tried to find something warm to wear until he saw his bed have a big red comforter on it, which is strange because Tate doesn't have a comforter. He also noticed a note on the bed. He went over, picked it up, and read what it said.

_Henry told me you lived here. I never trusted the weather. Sleep well, kid._

_Emma_

Tate kept re-reading the note to make sure it was true. Emma actually cared enough to give him something to make himself comfortable at night. He held back his tears the whole time he got ready for bed. It wasn't until he went under the comfortable blanket from Emma that tears finally came out of his eyes. For all he knew, this could be from his little good luck charm; a necklace that was just a long piece of string with a bunch of acorns hanging from it.

* * *

**Alright! I got the second chapter done and out of the way! I told you guys I was going to get a chapter or two through soon because I'm on my short vacation from school. BTW, I passed my statistics class! I'M DONE WITH MY MATH CLASSES!**

**I think a few of these chapters will get a little easier and faster since I just bought season 1 and 2 yesterday. I've only seen each episode once (except for the Peter Pan episodes. Tee-hee), so they'll take some getting used to. And I'm only half way through the 3rd season online, so bear with me, I'm only just adjusting to the show, but I REALLY do love it. At any rate, I'll post the next one as soon as I can.**


	3. Snow Falls

**I do not own 'Once Upon a Time' or the Rapunzel from 'Tangled.' I just own the way I made her in this. Along with Sunny and Tate.**

* * *

_A royal carriage was just roaming through the woods, on the way to another kingdom. It surrounded with guards and the carriage had a sun symbol on the door. That symbol meant that the carriage was from the kingdom of Corona. Inside of it was the king and queen of Corona; the king was watching the view from the carriage window before he saw his wife just looking at her lap in sorrow, sorrow over her missing daughter._

_Eighteen years have passed and they have yet to have their daughter back into their arms. By now, they probably won't even know what she looks like right now. It saddens them both that they may not see their lost princess again. Even so, the king will not allow sad faces on anyone. Not even his wife._

"_I know you're worried, Lorena."_

_The queen finally lifted her head to face her husband. However, that sad look on her face has yet to leave her face._

"_But rest assure. I promise that our daughter will return to us one day."_

_The queen really feels like she can believe him, but with all the years passing by, it's hard to believe in anything after such a long time._

"_I want to believe that, Edwin. It's just that it's already been eighteen years since our little girl with taken from the kingdom, from us. How can we find her? We've already had fakes come in and pretend they were our missing daughter."_

"_And that's how I believe."_

_Edwin took a bag that was right next to him and pulled out a tiara; a silver tiara embedded in ruby's and diamonds, and there were three petal shaped jewels that pointed upwards._

"_The fairies enchanted our daughter's tiara. Once it's put on her head, it will shine brightly, revealing that it is her and she will remember her short time as an infant in the castle. They can bring in as much fakes as they want. _This_ will determine that only one of them is her. That's why I will never give up on her."_

_Slowly, the queen started to smile. To know that her husband will always believe in their child, it reminded her exactly why she fell in love with him._

_Suddenly, the carriage came to a stop, surprising the king and queen. Wondering what it was, the king stepped out of the carriage and met up with general._

"_Why have we stopped?"_

"_Over there, sir."_

_The general pointed to why they have stopped. The king was simply horrified to see a body lying in the middle of the road. Edwin ran over to the person with two guards behind him. The second he was there, he slowly turned over the body to the side and removed the hood to reveal the persons face. He was surprised to see what it was._

"_Why… he's just a boy."_

_A teenage boy to be exact. He had messy, brown hair, lightly pale skin and looked no more than eighteen years old. He looked to one of the guards and spoke in a serious tone._

"_Carry the boy to the carriage. We'll get him some help as soon as we reach the castle."_

_Without arguing, the guards went over to the boy and tried to pick him up, but something unexpected happened. The boy's eyes snapped open and he punched the guard in the face and moved his leg to trip over the other one on his face. Then he got up and rammed himself into the king, knocking him over. As the boy stopped where he was, on the side of the road, Edwin checked his robe and belt, noticing his little bag of gold has disappeared. He looked up and saw the boy smirking while holding the small bag._

"_Who are you, boy?"_

_The boy didn't answer. Instead, he took out a pan flute and just played a few notes before running off into the forest. As Edwin watched him run off, the general walked over to him with a scowl on his face._

"_Of all the thieves, we had to find _him._"_

_Edwin looked to the general in confusion._

"_You know that boy?"_

"_Half of the kingdom has heard of that young man, you majesty. It was said that he plays a pan flute after he robs his victims. It is to signify who that boy really is."_

"_And what is his name?"_

_The general looked to the king with a serious, vengeful expression._

"_Peter Pan."_

* * *

Tate was sitting on the couch at Mary Margaret's apartment. The reason why was because he was modeling for a drawing that Sunny was working on. Needless to say, he has been sitting still for almost an hour and it was killing him just sitting there.

"Are you done yet?"

"Hold still, you big baby. I'm almost done."

Hearing that made Tate groan in boredom and impatience.

"You said that 15 minutes ago. This is getting boring and my neck feels like its cramping."

"I know. I tried to tell you that, but you're stubborn ego wouldn't take no for an answer."

Without even moving his head, he scoffed at her. That sound made Sunny point her pencil at him with smile.

"You scoffed. Which means I'm right."

He couldn't fight back a smile with her.

"Shut up and keep drawing, so I can stretch."

She giggled at him and went back to drawing him. Tate never even figured out why she was doing this anyway.

"What's this for, anyway?"

"The art shop hasn't been booming lately, and I thought that maybe if I displayed some drawings or crafts at the window, it could attract more customers so they can see how cool art can be."

"And you chose me to model? That's more likely to scare the customers away."

"Well, if they do, that's not my problem."

He chuckled slightly at her. Sunny always did things she wants on her own, no matter what others say. To not care what others say and taking the risk; to Tate, that makes this girl one in a million.

"Okay, Tate. I'm done. You can move now."

"Finally!"

He said that while jumping off the couch in excitement, which made Sunny laugh at him. He started to message his neck when Sunny stood up from her chair to show him her work.

"So, what do you think?"

She showed him a drawing of his head from the chest up. The minute Tate saw it, he was stunned at what he saw; the drawing looked so much like him, it was like looking at a photo made out of pencils.

"Wow. It looks incredible."

"Thanks."

Before either of them could say anything else, the front door opened to reveal Mary Margaret.

"Sunny, I'm home."

She finally turned around to see that Sunny wasn't alone. She saw Tate really close to Sunny like they were hugging or something.

"Did I come home too early?"

They were confused at what she said before they started to notice how close they were to each other. Tate had his left arm around Sunny and his right hand on hers, which was holding one side on the sketchbook. It was actually no wonder they suddenly had warm feeling inside. Feeling embarrassed all of a sudden, they let go of each other and Sunny tried to explain.

"No! No. We were just- He was just-"

_DONG!_

When they say the saying 'saved by the bell,' they really meant it, because they all suddenly heard to clock tower chiming. Tate looked outside to see that the clock struck 8, which means his time here was up.

"Well, look at the time. I've got to go. Have fun at the hospital tomorrow. Good night, girls!"

He wasted no time grabbing his jacket and walking out the door. It was too awkward to stay around for another second. When he closed the door, Mary Margaret sheepishly grinned and walked to the table, where Sunny put down her sketchbook.

"Sorry, Sunny. I forgot you invited him over."

Sunny shook her head, letting her know it wasn't her fault.

"It's fine. The drawing was done anyway. So how was the date with Whale?"

Mary Margaret could only respond so stoically.

"Let's just say he should know better than to stare at Ruby while he's on a date with someone."

Sunny could only just whistle at that. It was already a low blow from the doctor. A real low blow. It was needless to say there was not going to be a second date anytime soon.

* * *

It was the next day. Sunny went with Mary Margaret and her class to work on the Outreach Program decorations. The whole time they were working, Mary was talking to Sunny.

"So you invited Emma to move in. What did she say?"

"That's she's not one for roommates nor is she a good one."

Sunny giggled at that. She can actually see that on Emma. She stopped laughing when she saw Henry. Except he wasn't with the other students. Instead, he was in the ICU unit with the John Doe Mary has been watching over.

"Speaking of roommates, Henry's in John Doe's room."

Mary Margaret's smile dropped and she looked to John Doe's room to see that Henry was really in there, looking like he was going to touch one of the cords. She quickly walked to the room before he could try to lay a finger on the wires. And it happened just in time to avoid a shriek from Sunny, because she was suddenly lifted into the air. The minute her feet were back on the ground, she turned around to see that her pixie dust culprit was Tate, who was laughing hard at her reaction.

"Surprise."

She just punched him in the arm, which made him laugh even harder.

"Ow, that hurt."

"Yeah. Well, you had it coming, jackass. This is a hospital and people screaming is not always a good sign in a hospital."

His laughter started to die down when she started to walk away. He quickly got her by the shoulder before she could leave the room.

"No, no, no. Wait. I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

She looked back at him with her arms crossed, meaning that she still wasn't happy with his antic. She hated people scaring her like that. It always made her feel like she was getting kidnapped. Seeing that made him sigh. He really hated seeing her like that; not angry per se, just angry at him.

"Alright. I'm sorry I scared you and it won't happen again. How's that?"

"Needs work."

Hearing that made Tate's shoulders slump. Sunny didn't care about that though. He had it coming for scaring her anyway. Now to get serious on why he was here.

"What are you even doing here? I thought you hated being in hospitals."

He really does. Being in a hospital always reminded Tate of death, because people normally die in hospitals and nothing made him more uneasy than wanting to see Sunny while she's volunteering at a hospital.

"I do, but I wanted to remind you of your noon shift at the art store."

That was when Sunny's eyes widened. She grabbed Tate's hand to look at the time on the watch he had on. According to it, it was a quarter till 12, which means she had another 15 minutes to get there before she got in trouble.

"11:45!? I'm gonna be late!"

She grabbed her jacket and gave Tate a favor to do while she put it on.

"Tate, can you tell Mary Margaret I left early?"

"Sure. Good luck."

"I'll need it."

With that, she ran to the elevator in a rush with Tate watching her run. He could tell she was still not happy with him for scaring her, because whenever she has to leave him, she always tells him things like, 'Stay out of trouble, hotshot.' Instead, she ran off and then left him there without even a goodbye. He had to do something to make it up to her. One idea came in mind, but it's one he's not going to like.

* * *

The next day, there was a bit of a challenge. Tate has been standing outside of Gold's antique shop for some time. He's been debating on whether or not he should go in and see if he had anything, but he's wouldn't stop pacing while talking to himself about the pros and cons of him and the shop.

"This is for Sunny in a way for me to apologize, but Gold's always looks at me like he's longing for something. Even so, I owe Sunny something to prove I'm sorry. Yet why check the store run by the creepiest and most hated man is Storybrooke?"

After a few more minutes of arguing with himself, he realized it was getting him nowhere and the shop was going to close soon, so it's now or never. Anxiously, he opened the front door. When he didn't see Gold inside, he slowly walked into the shop, hoping to just grab something good and run before Gold gets back.

"Hello."

Tate jumped and looked back to see Mr. Gold behind the cash register, looking like nothing was wrong. Well, almost nothing because Tate was trying to get his heart back in place. And his plan to grab and go was ruined.

"God almighty, you scared me. I thought my heart was going come out of my chest."

Mr. Gold nodded at him.

"My apologies, lad. I just didn't think you would be a customer at my shop."

"Neither did I, but I'm desperate."

He said that while looking at an antique dragon. He didn't even notice Mr. Gold was staring at him with slight concern.

"You seem troubled, Mr. Childs."

Tate stopped what he was doing and looked to Mr. Gold with a stern look.

"Mind your own business. I don't need your help."

Gold didn't change that mischievous look. He wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to help out his own son. Even if he doesn't remember him as his father.

"On the contrary. A young man such as yourself wouldn't have come to my shop if you weren't looking for any help at all."

Tate scoffed at that, which was a bad idea since Gold and everyone knows what that means when he does that. That only thing it did for Gold is make him smirk a little wider because that meant he had his son cornered.

"So I was right. Tell me then. What are you looking for?"

Tate inwardly growled at Mr. Gold. So he gave up, and marched up to the desk that Mr. Gold was behind.

"I need something art related. A painting, a drawing; something like one of those. Maybe a hand painted Christmas ornament at least."

That caught Gold off guard. Why would the boy want something like that?

"I-I'm sorry. I'm rather confused. You don't seem the artistic type."

"It's not for me, old man!"

Gold didn't even flinch when he spoke loudly. Tate sighed and just told him the truth.

"I made my friend, Sunny Blanchard, mad yesterday and I want to make it up to her. She's trying to put up displays at the art store to attract more customers, so I thought maybe if you had something hand crafted, it could help her display."

Mr. Gold nodded, finally understanding what he meant.

"So do you have anything like that?"

Just when he was going to say no, Gold suddenly remembered something he's kept for a while. He was hoping to hold onto it until the curse broke, but this seems like an emergency.

"I may have something that could patch things up with you."

He motioned Tate to follow him, which Tate was desperate enough to do. While Mr. Gold was hobbling to where he was going, he explained something on the way to one of his shelves.

"I'm not going to guarantee that it will be used for display at her art shop, but it will certainly bring a big smile on that fair face of hers."

Hearing that made Tate wonder if he should be happy or slug that smirk right off of that old man. Even so, he kept breathing just to try and keep his cool. He finally felt relieved when Gold grabbed something off the shelf and showed it to Tate.

"I think this may solve your problem."

Tate looked down to see a wooden box painted purple with a yellow sun symbol on it. He moved his eyes to Gold, looking at him like he was out of his mind.

"A purple box. A purple box is supposed to help me, how?"

"My dear boy, you should know better than anyone in the town not to judge something by apparel."

That made Tate glare at him for saying that. What could he possibly know about him? Luckily, before he could even think about doing anything, Mr. Gold opened the box and it was plating a really gentle tune. It sounded so peaceful, it was bound to make anyone smile. In fact, that was what Tate was doing from that music. If that was the case…

"I'll take it."

Just before he could even touch it, Gold closed the music box, making the music stop.

"Ah, ah, ah. You should also know that I don't just _give_ my merchandise away."

Tate sighed, frustrated at what he just walked into, but like he said, he was desperate.

"Fine. Name your price. I should tell you though that two dollars is as high as I can go."

"Yes, I figured, dearie. That's why I'm willing to make you a deal."

If there was anything Tate learned about Gold other than the way he stares at him, it's that his deals are not always a good thing. Even so, he really wants to make it up to Sunny. Besides, it wasn't going to hurt to at least hear him out.

"I'm listening."

"It's very simple, Mr. Childs. You wish to make this girl happy. And in order to do that, you have to make a sacrifice. For instance, I know you go and see her on her shifts at the art store. However, the deal I am about to make with you, it may prevent you from doing so."

Tate widened his eyes at Gold. What deal could he possibly want to make that may stop him from doing that?

"What are you talking about?"

"I need some help around the shop. And, from what I understand, you need a place to stay because that old hut you've been staying at hasn't been the most comfortable. So my price to you for this music box… is assistance and hospitality. Is it a deal?"

Now _that_ made Tate uncomfortable. This man has been nothing, but a shrewd devil to everyone in the town. The thought of staying with him made it even worse. However, a place warm to stay does sound comforting, and he would still get that music box. Then again, Gold has always looked at Tate like he wants something from him, and it was really disconcerting to an eighteen year old boy. Either go for it to sacrifice and benefit, or just leave and talk to Sunny to forgive and forget?

_RRIIIINNNNG_

Tate jumped and slightly screamed from that noise, which made Gold almost drop the box. They both started to relax when Tate took out a phone that Emma loaned him to keep in case of emergencies. Or at least, if someone needed his help like this. Seeing that it _was_ Emma, Tate answered the phone.

"What is it, Emma?"

Hearing what she said caught him by surprise.

"That guy at the hospital?"

* * *

Tate ran as fast as he could to the hospital just in time to see Mary Margaret, Sunny, Emma and Henry in the middle of the hospital. He stopped next to Sunny, who looked at him a little concerned. Not about Tate, but with what happened.

"Emma called me about the John Doe. What happened?"

"He's disappeared."

Tate eyes widened and he looked to the bed to see if it was true. Sure enough, the bed was empty and everything. Only one question came to mind about this.

"What's the mayor doing here?"

Sunny just shrugged her shoulders. She and the others were just as confused as he was. Just when it couldn't get any worse, the mayor was walking to them, mostly to Emma since she's the last person she wanted to be in the same building with.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Then she turned her attention to Henry.

"And you."

She grabbed Henry by his arm to have his attention on her.

"I thought you were at the arcade."

Tate chuckled and walked over to Henry and put his hands on the kid's shoulders with a smile.

"With all due respect, Mayor, if he was going to the arcade, I'd be there challenging him to a Speed Racers game."

Henry looked at Tate, laughing with him. Secretly, Henry looked up to Tate like an older brother he never had. However, with only one look at the mayor, Tate let go of Henry and walked away whistling. Ignoring all of that, Mary Margaret tried to get to the bottom of what happened by asking Graham for details.

"What happened to John Doe? Did someone take him?"

Graham went ahead and answered her.

"We don't know yet. His IVs were ripped out but there's no sign for sure there's a struggle."

Sunny looked at him like he had to be joking.

"He was a guy in a coma. How could there be a struggle if he was practically dead to the world?"

Graham just put his hands up, surrendering to Sunny since she had a point. Henry, on the other, thinks he already knew who was behind it; his adoptive mother.

"What did you do?"

Regina started to just stare at Henry; shocked that he said that, upset that he would accuse her, and mad that he still saw her as a villain.

"You think I had something to do with this?"

"It is curious that the Mayor is here."

No one could say that Emma was wrong. What _was_ the mayor doing here? Regina could only answer while glaring at Emma.

"I'm here because I'm his emergency contact."

That caught everyone off guard. The mayor of all people was the mayor's emergency contact. No one was more shocked than Mary Margaret. For as long as she's been volunteering for John Doe, she never knew about this at all. She was going to ask him how, but Tate beat him to it.

"You mean you know that man?"

She looked to Tate while answering him. Just like every other person in Storybrooke, she looked at him like he was an insect on the side of a building.

"I found him. On the side of the road years ago with no ID. I brought him here."

Everyone was surprised at that. Why is it for as long as John Doe has been in the hospital, none of them knew that the mayor was the one who saved him in the first place? What other secrets are there in Storybrooke?

"Mayor Mills saved his life."

They all looked to see that Dr. Whale said that. Once they saw him, there was only one thing on Mary Margaret's mind.

"Will he be okay?"

"Okay? The man's been on feeding tubes for years on constant supervision. He needs to get back here right away or, quite honestly, 'okay' might be a pipe dream."

That's just what everyone needed to hear; something to make them worry. Luckily, out of all the people in the group, Emma wasn't going to stay and worry. She was going to find this guy.

"Well then, let's quit yapping and start looking."

She started to walk out proudly to find the guy who disappeared.

"That's what we're doing?"

And that pride was just vanquished by the mayor herself.

"Just stay out of this, dear. And since I clearly can't keep you away from my son, I guess I'm just going to have to keep my son away from you."

With that, the mayor grabbed Henry to take him home and away from Henry, making Tate glare at the woman. He was angry that the mayor would do that to Henry, considering she's not even his real mother. Before he could take a step to do even one thing to that women, Graham grabbed him by the shoulder. And before the mayor could take another step out, she stopped right next to Emma with a look.

"Enjoy my shirt, because that's all you're getting."

She turned to Graham to give him his task, while Tate was still glaring at her.

"Sheriff, find John Doe. You heard Dr. Whale. Time is precious."

With that, she left with Henry. Tate had the biggest urge to go after her, while even Sunny was glaring at the woman. To her, Regina should've kept that nice heart after she found John Doe. Getting back to business, while holding onto Tate because he has no trust in him staying still, Graham turned back to the doctor and got back to what's going on.

"Doctor, how long between your rounds since you last saw him?"

"Twelve hours or so."

"Then that's what we need to account for."

* * *

Later, everyone was in the security room, going to check out the security cameras to see what really happened to the comatose man. They were questioning Leroy, the grumpy janitor, and Walter, the security guard. They were hoping that at least one of boys could tell them about the man, but right now, nobody was getting anywhere with those two. That is, the adults weren't. Because when they went into the security room, Tate got Sunny by the arm to talk to her outside of the room.

"What are you doing?"

Once he closed the door, he turned to Sunny.

"Sunny, listen to me. I really need to talk to you."

She started to look at him like he was nuts.

"Well, it's gonna have to wait. Right now, there's a half-dead guy missing from the hospital and we need to know where he is. So move please."

She tried to go around Tate, but he blocked her before she could even touch the door. He did that the whole time while speaking.

"No, wait. Please listen to me."

"I'm not in the mood right now, Tate."

"I just want to apologize for yesterday."

"Tate, what makes you actually think that this is a good time to talk about that when we have a bigger issue on our hands?"

Just then, Tate finally put his hands on Sunny shoulders. With that contact, she stood still and looked him directly in eye. She's never seen the look he's giving her before; so serious and desperate.

"Sunny, please. Just hear me out."

She really didn't think it really was a time to talk about yesterday and she was still a bit mad at him for scaring her like that, but seeing that look in his eyes was just telling her to give him a chance to explain. After a few more minutes of thinking, she sighed and made up her mind.

"Fine. If you let go of my shoulders, I won't leave and listen to you."

Tate smiled at that. If anything, one of her best qualities was that she always kept her promises. So he let go of her shoulders, she didn't leave like she promised, but had her arms crossed. He didn't care though, so long as he had her attention.

"Okay. Now I-"

"We found him!"

He was interrupted by Mary Margaret coming out of the security room, along with everyone else. That, of course, started to infuriate Tate right now. He had an opportunity and it was just ruined. Of course, Sunny wasn't paying attention to him being mad. Instead, she ran up to the group to find out what happened.

"Where is he? What happened?"

Emma explained.

"He wasn't kidnapped. He got up and left on his own a few hours ago."

Now _that_ got Tate's attention. He quickly turned around, surprised at the news. He wasn't the only one who was shocked. Just because Sunny wasn't talking to him, doesn't mean she wasn't thinking the same thing. He was the one who asked though.

"Well, where did he go then?"

Out of all the people, Leroy was the one who answered him, but it wasn't an answer they liked.

"The woods."

* * *

_Peter was running with a smile at his work. He was considered lucky that it was the king and queen of Corona. Peter didn't really steal from them for no reason. He did to see if he could grab their attention when he one day brings his best friend to the kingdom. If that meant stealing from the kingdom, the so be it. It didn't matter anyway. After all, he's actually been a wanted bandit for the past few years, so who cares?_

_He kept running until he made it to a tall tower in the middle of the forest. He smiled when he saw it and ran to it. Once he came to the front of the tower with the window directly above him, he took out his pan flute and played a few notes out of it. He waited a few minutes for a response. He was about to play again when he heard a noise. He looked up to see nothing yet when suddenly, there was long, golden hair thrown out the window. It was long enough to hit the ground. Peter smiled and climbed up the hair all the way to the top. However, when he reached the top and went inside, it was suspiciously dark. It honestly made him a little nervous that he may have been caught about coming here._

_CLANK!_

_He screamed and turned around and saw a girl whose long golden hair belonged to. It was his old friend Rapunzel, laughing at his scream. He looked to her hand and figured out that she just hit the wall with a frying pan. As much as Peter wanted to be mad at her, he found himself laughing too._

"_You can be a major witch sometimes, but that was a good one."_

"_I try."_

_After a few more minutes of laughter, Rapunzel finally light up the candles, which actually brightened up the room. Once she was done, she sat right next to Peter to see why he was here so early._

"_So what brings you here today? You just came over a few days ago."_

_Peter responded with a smile._

"_I have something for you that I made."_

_He took out his satchel and started to rummage through it. He kept looking until he finally pulled something out of the bag. It was a small box, but there was something inside of it. The minute he found it, he handed it over to Rapunzel with a smile. She was rather surprised that he had something for her._

"_What's this for? You know my birthday's not for another month."_

"_I know, but it's important I give it to you now."_

_With that, she lifted the lid of the box and what she saw inside of it surprised her. It was a small, wooden box that was the color purple with a sun insignia on it. It was honestly a very beautiful color combination. However, the real surprise was when she opened the box. When she did, it was playing her song, her flower song that she's always played for her hair to work its magic._

"_Peter, I-I don't know what to say."_

"_You could start with a 'thank you.'"_

_Once again, Rapunzel laughed. And Peter was right; she could at least say thank you._

"_Thank you for such an amazing gift. But one thing confuses me; why does it have a sun symbol on it?"_

"_That is the Corona Kingdom insignia."_

_That was confusing to Rapunzel. She has never even heard of that place before._

"_But I don't know that place. Why would thi-"_

_Only one thought come to mind._

"_Peter, please tell me that the box at least wasn't stolen from the kingdom."_

_Rapunzel knew very well that Peter became a wanted thief. She knew about it as soon as her mother came home one day with a wanted poster of him. It was a good thing that she knew Peter before those posters were made, but that didn't mean she was thrilled to see him as a wanted boy. When Peter didn't answer about the box, it wasn't hard to tell that she wasn't happy._

"_Peter, why?"_

_Peter stood up explaining._

"_I'm sorry, but I wasn't able to buy it as it was and I really wanted to make you something special. I did make the music in it though. That part was true."_

_Rapunzel just sighed and put her head in one of her hands. As much as she appreciated what he did for her, she still wasn't happy._

"_Is there anything else I should know?"_

_Peter hesitated to say it, but he wasn't able to lie to her that well. After all, if there was anything he learned, secrets aren't kept forever._

"_I pickpocketed from the Corona Kingdoms king a couple of hours ago."_

Now _she wasn't happy. In fact, she was downright shocked. It was luck Peter wanted to get into trouble. She now stood up too, but that was after she ran her hands through her hair and had an open mouth, that she started pacing. Peter was hoping that telling her why might help calm her down._

"_But it wasn't for the money. There was a better reason. I just needed his attention for something important."_

_Rapunzel turned to Peter in disbelief, enough to think that he had to be out of his mind._

"_Important. And what was so important that you robbed a king?"_

_Peter seemed hesitant to tell her it was because of her. What proof would he have to convince her that the king and queen may be her real parents? Because it would make sense. They have a baby girl that looks just like Rapunzel who disappeared as an infant and he meets a girl whose strict mother would not even let her outside for some fresh air. There's nothing he can do, but take her to Corona._

"_If I told you, you wouldn't believe me. The only way I can convince you about it… is if you come with me to Corona."_

Now _Rapunzel was looking at him like he was out of his mind._

"_What? Peter, I can't-"_

"_I know, I know! You can't leave the tower!"_

_That startled Rapunzel. Peter has never yelled at her like that before. In fact, until now, he's never yelled at her at all._

"_But it's important that I show you this. If I don't, you will never understand. And the only way to make you is to come out of the tower just this once."_

_Rapunzel was starting to get steamed._

"_And then what? Have my hair hang out for people to use my power? Have them try to cut it for their own selfish needs? Like they did a long time ago? How can I go out there and do that, Peter? I already got myself into trouble with my hair when I was born. I'm not going out there and letting it happen again!"_

_Now that did it for Peter. Once she was done, he marched right up to her. Just watching him with that look made her back away. She was backed up all the way to the wall. Before she could even move, Peter put hands on both sides of Rapunzel's head. The look that he was giving her was probably one of the scariest looks she has ever seen._

"_You are such a hypocrite. As I recall, you would sometimes tell me how you were wanting to make some kind change in your life. You used to tell me how you wanted to go outside and at least feel the grass and the wind from the outside. And now when I offer you an opportunity for that freedom, you back out because you are too afraid to even try to get the freedom you want. I understand just as much as you and your mother how important your magic hair is, which is why I would never let that happen. I just want you to see something that I may figure out, and you always knew that I would never let you down. You should know better than to doubt your only friend outside of the tower."_

_Hearing every single word to that made Rapunzel eyes water up with tears. They were not tears of hatred, nor joy or sadness; rather, these were tears of guilt. Guilt because every word that came out of Peters mouth was true. Without even saying a word, he turned around and climbed down from the tower, without Rapunzel's hair. She could only watch while the tears fell from her eyes. She did want freedom, but she was afraid that everything her mother told her would happen. Now it was her own choice; her freedom or her mother's orders. She made her choice when she looked around and took a glance at the music box._

* * *

In the woods of Storybrooke, Graham, Emma, Mary Margaret, Sunny, and Tate followed a trail of footprints into the ground, Graham leading the way. The others were behind him, but Sunny was in front of Emma and Mary Margaret while Tate was behind them. He suddenly bumped into Mary because they suddenly stopped. He looked over and saw Graham on the ground, looking at something. Emma was the one who asked why.

"What is it?"

"The trail runs out here."

That confused everyone. How can a trail of someone's foot prints just disappear?

"You sure? Because I thought tracking was one of your skills."

Ignoring the sarcasm from Emma, he stood up without any pride broken.

"Just give me a second. This is my world. I got it."

With that, he walked away. Emma just watched him like he was crazy.

"Right. Sorry."

Not really. She was being sarcastic about it. Mary Margaret and Sunny walked ahead while Tate just walked beside Emma while following them. While walking together, Tate decided to talk to Emma.

"I'm a little confused about the world thing. Last I checked, finding people was also your thing, isn't it?"

"Sure. Just, people I find usually run places like Vegas. Not a lot hit the woods."

Tate nodded to what she said, agreeing to what she said. Whenever people run from jail, they would usually hit places like either New York or Vegas. It was very questioning why a coma patient would run to the woods of all places. Tate forgot about all that logic when he looked up and saw Sunny talking to Mary Margaret. It was starting to kill him that he hasn't been able to talk to her. Emma noticed him staring and wanted to know what's going on.

"What're you staring at Sunny for? Something wrong?"

At a moment like this, he would've told her something like 'mind your own business' or 'leave me alone,' but for some reason, he felt like he could trust Emma. Especially after everything she's done for him. So he went ahead and told her.

"Sunny's not too happy with me right now and I'm trying to make it up to her. I want to try and talk to her about something that could help, but I haven't been getting the opportunity."

Emma seemed confused. From what she understood, they never fought.

"What happened?"

"She was working with Mary Margaret's class at the hospital, and I snuck up behind and scared her by lifting her up."

Now Emma understood, but not in a good way for Tate.

"Ah, I see. Hey, Tate, did you know that when people try to scare Sunny like that, it makes her feel like she's getting kidnapped?"

And now it hit Tate like a ton of bricks. Of all the things that he never learned about Sunny, it was that. Slowly, he put his face in his hands while groaning, and then he shook his head at Emma, telling her 'no.' Emma hissed at his dilemma. No wonder he was in trouble. Before she could give him some advice, they heard a snap, like it was a twig. Everyone turned around and saw of all people, Henry running over.

"Henry, what are you doing here?"

Ignoring Tate, Henry looked to Emma in question.

"Did you find him yet?"

Tate sighed at him being ignored. Ignoring _that,_ Emma answered Henry.

"No, not yet. You shouldn't be here."

"I can help. I know where he's going."

"Do you now? Where?"

Henry looked to Tate and answered bluntly.

"He's looking for Ms. Blanchard."

* * *

_Peter was walking through the forest, farther and farther away from Rapunzel's tower. He felt so steamed at Rapunzel for not even giving him a chance and being such a hypocrite about leaving the tower. She's the one who talked about leaving the tower and seeing the world, so why would she blow up at him for trying to give her an opportunity?_

_Suddenly, there was an ambush. Something hit Peter on his back, making fall in pain. Before he could get up, his arms were suddenly grabbed by the men that attacked him. When he was finally sitting up, he could see the sun symbol on their armor, which meant that they were knights from Corona. He cursed at himself for getting caught so easily. Standing in front him of was a man he recognized, the general from the king and queens carriage, looking at him with a victorious grin, while holding a wanted poster of Peter._

"_Well, well, Peter Pan in the flesh."_

_Peter could only just glare at him, while the general rolled up the poster explaining._

"_So sorry about the attack, but you've always been a slick boy for your age. I couldn't have you escaping yet."_

_He started walking back and forth._

"_Now let's see… you're a notorious thief, it was said once that you ambushed a whole man's troupe, and the one thing I recently figured out… the Dark One's son."_

_That did it for Peter. He struggled in the knight's grip while shouting at the general._

"_That man lost the right to be father since he became the Dark One! Never compare to someone like him!"_

"_And just how will you stop me?"_

_This man was just making Peter angrier by each word. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to take out his dagger and field dress him right where he stands. The only thing stopping him was his backup. Then out of the blue, the general took out a sword of his own, still grinning like a devil._

"_The king said he wanted me to bring you to him. However, you will already have been dead."_

_Peter's eyes started to widen. He had the opportunity to finally talk to the king and queen about Rapunzel, but this man was the only thing preventing him from doing that. Because he wants Peter dead._

_"Seeing the king is the reason I did that. Why can't you follow that order?"_

_The general could only sigh at Peter before answering his question by asking him one._

_"Take a good look at me, Pan. Do I seem familiar?"_

_Peter took a good look at him. He didn't seem familiar at first until he saw a scar on the side of his neck. Peter remembered the scar in a heartbeat. He remembered because he was the one who made that scar on his neck in the first place. He looked up to the general in shock._

_"Flynn?"_

_The general, or rather Flynn, lightly chuckled._

_"I go by Eugene now, but how nice you remember me."_

_Peter remembered him, all right. His name was Flynn Ryder and he was once a wanted thief like Peter. The only difference is that between thieves, Peter proved himself to be better. The reason Flynn had that scar was because Peter cut him there to nab a sack of gold the he and Flynn stole. They both worked together to steal a some gold from King George once and Flynn nearly ran off with it, but Peter stopped him by throwing a knife to stop him, but it got him on the side of his neck. It didn't result in him dying, but it did get him arrested, King George taking the gold back with him._

_"I don't understand. How did you become a general in Corona?"_

_"It was easy. After my months of being in prison, I simply escaped and ran to the closest kingdom I could find for help. And I found King Edwin of Corona. He offered me food, training, and before I knew it, I changed my name and I became his right hand man. A kind man, he is. Just one problem; you won't be able to see him."_

_That can't happen to Peter, not when he's this close._

_"I needed his attention. Why can't you let me explain myself?"_

_"Because you're the reason I've suffered in King George's prison. He is a ruthless man, and I had to be one of the prisoners that could've died in his own cell."_

_He kneeled in front of Peter, who started to look at Flynn in slight fear._

_"Because of you, I've spend months in darkness. And when I became the Corona general, I made it my goal to find the one thief that started this mess; and it was you."_

_Now Peter was starting to get terrified. Flynn wants him dead that badly. With that, Flynn stood back up and drew his sword, pointing it in front of Peter._

_"Rest in Peace, Pan."_

_Flynn started to lift his sword. Peter quickly shut his eyes and waited for the impact, when suddenly…_

_CLANK!_

_That clank made him open his eyes, and there he saw Flynn on the ground unconscious because of the last thing that he would expect to happen to him._

_Behind Flynn was a girl. A girl with long, long, long, long, long blonde hair, holding a frying pan. It was only explained right where he was; Rapunzel left her tower and saved him just before he was going to die. What she did was brave, but he was able to tell she was nervous because she was out of her tower for the first time in her life and she sees new people that were going to kill him. In fact, she was so nervous, she had her frying pan raised up like a bat and tried to seem threatening._

"_Alright. I-I'm warning you boys. Let him go or I'll… I'll… I'll hurt you the same way I did to your friend."_

_The knights simply started to laugh at Rapunzel. Peter took this as the perfect distraction to make his escape. He planted a foot on the ground and pushed down on it hard so he could flip over and kick the guard behind him. He wasn't free yet, with the other two guards holding his arms. Now that he was standing, it was easier. He just rotated his body so his arms were crisscrossing, so he could pull on them and then the guards hit their heads against each other, knocking each other out. Lifting himself up, he ran to Rapunzel and grabbed her by the hand._

"_Let's go! Run!"_

_With that, she ran with him, while asking a question._

"_Who are those guys?"_

_Peter didn't want to tell her that they were knight from Corona, so he went with an alternative._

"_Let's just assume that they don't like me."_

_Rapunzel still wanted to know, but she was too late to ask because of an incident._

_"AH!"_

_Peter suddenly fell over in pain. Rapunzel gasped when she saw an arrow lodged in his leg. She looked down at the guards. As it turns out, Flynn wasn't hit hard enough because he was awake and holding a bow without an arrow. The only thing Rapunzel could do for Peter was lift him up and take him back to her tower. They were both sprinting with Flynn shouting some final words._

_"You may have escaped now, Pan! But I will find you! I will end your life before I let you see the eyes of the king! If it's the last thing that I do!"_

* * *

Everyone was now all together, with Henry still yapping about John Doe looking for Mary Margaret. It was honestly starting to get on everyone's nerves.

"You're the one who woke him up. You're the last one he saw. He wants to find you!"

Tate started mumbling to himself, 'somebody please shut him up.' Mary Margaret, thankfully, heard Tate and did that. Because it was really starting to annoy her too.

"Henry, it's not about me. I just… I think he's lost and confused. He's been in a coma a long time."

"But he loves you!"

Too bad for them, Henry doesn't give up that easily.

"You need to stop chasing him, and let him find you."

Now it was driving Emma crazy, hearing the whole thing over again. He wasn't supposed to be with them anyway. She turned to Henry to tell him that.

"Kid. You need to go home. Where's your mom? She's going to kill me and then you…and then me again."

Tate turned to Emma to make a joke about that.

"Even without Henry, she'll kill you."

Emma just picked up a rock and threw at Tate, but luckily, Tate ducked before it could hit him. He stood back up laughing before he kept walking until he could reach Sunny. Now that he did, he was taking the opportunity again.

"Sunny, I need to talk to you."

Sunny could only sigh at him. He was being relentless. She will hear him out sometime, but the problem was that he was trying to apologize about it in the middle of a search for an unidentified man in the woods of Storybrooke.

"Tate, now is not the time."

"Guys!"

Hearing Graham's voice made them all run, Tate slightly behind in anger for yet another interrupted chance. The minute they got to Graham, Emma and Mary Margaret pointed their flashlights to see what was wrong. And what they saw wasn't the best. They found a hospital bracelet that said 'John Doe' on a plant. But that wasn't the problem.

"Is that…"

Emma nodded at Mary Margaret.

"Blood."

This was not looking good for anyone right now. There is a hospital bracelet with a patient's blood on it. What's really making them worry is where the patient is.

* * *

_Peter and Rapunzel were back inside her tower. She was wrapping her hair around his injured leg, right where the arrow hit him. Mending it was easy, but taking the arrow out of his leg was the hard and painful part. Luckily, he wasn't bleeding as heavily as they thought he would. Good enough for Rapunzel to heal him. She suddenly stopped when she heard him hiss at the next wrap._

_"Sorry. It's been a while since I've done this."_

_Peter could only smile lightly at her._

_"It's alright."_

_She smiled back at him before getting back to her wrapping. Peter just kept on smiling at her. Smiling at the most bravest thing she has done._

_"I'm proud of you."_

_Confused, Rapunzel looked back up at him._

_"For what?"_

_"Coming out of your tower, saving my life."_

_She started to smile back and explain why she did it._

_"It's because you were right. I was holding myself back because of what my mother has been telling me. Everything you said made me realized that I shouldn't be afraid of what is out there. I mean, who knows? Maybe there are people who don't even know about my hair."_

_Peter chuckled slightly at what she said. She's still afraid of what others will do to her hair, but she still managed to come out of her tower for a little while. It was a good start._

_"All right, I'm done. You ready?"_

_"I always am."_

_Rapunzel closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and finally sung her song._

_"Flower, gleam and glow_

_Let your power shine_

_Make the clock reverse_

_Bring back what once was mine_

_Heal what has been hurt_

_Change the fates design_

_Save what has been lost_

_Bring back what once was mine_

_What once was mine"_

_Once she started singing, her hair started to glow brightly. The glow slowly started to follow to the end of her hair, glowing around the hair that was mended around Peter's leg. It didn't surprise Peter that she could do this with her hair. She did it to him about a year after they met. It did startle him at first, but he wasn't going to run away from it. If anything, he thought it was amazing. He started to feel relief once the healing started on his leg. Once she finished singing, her hair stopped glowing. She started to unwrap her hair from Peter's leg and with one look, she could see that it was all healed. She started to smile at it, proud of her work, before smiling at Peter. Peter smiled back at her, just as proud at what she did. They just kept staring at each other for a few minutes before Peter snapped out of it and stood up, coughing into his fist._

_"Well... I should be going now. There's more people out there with money and I'm in need of some."_

_Rapunzel just rolled her eyes at him. Leave it to Peter to want to make things better by saying he was going to rob somebody. Leaving it at that, he picked up some of Rapunzel's hair and threw it out of the window for him to climb out of the tower. It wasn't until he reached out for the hair to climb that Rapunzel remembered something._

_"Peter, wait!"_

_He turned back at her confused, and all she did was walk up to him with a confidence and at the same time, nervous._

_"You told me about how I told you how I've been wanting out of my tower, how I've been wanting to see the world. And you were right about all of it. You gave me an opportunity, but I was too afraid to take it because my mother told me about how dangerous and ruthless the world can be. I took all of that in so much that I've never taken even a foot in the yard, let alone the forest. However, taking that one step into the forest and helping you get away from those men, it made realized how much I've been doubting myself."_

_Peter slowly started to come back inside is slight shock. Could she be saying what he thinks she's saying?_

_"Of course, I've also doubted you. You said you would protect me and you did. So I apologize for that. And to prove it to me some more, I want to accept your offer."_

_Peter's shock started to sink in little by little._

_"I want to go to Corona with you."_

_Now his shock turned into excitement. Rapunzel is finally taking up what he said about Corona. He started laughing while running over to Rapunzel, hugging her and then lifting her up and spinning her around, making her laugh along with him. After only a few turns, Peter finally put her down with a smile._

_"Peter, what was that?"_

_"I couldn't help myself. I was too excited. We're going to Corona together!"_

_"Calm down. We're not going now."_

_Hearing that finally made Peter calm down a bit._

_"Yes, I know. Not now. Sorry. When do you think we'll go?"_

_"That's what I want to tell you. As I said, next month is my birthday. I'll tell mom what I want and she'll go get it. That will be enough time to go there and back."_

_"That may work."_

_"It better work, because that's the only plan I have. Now you have to go before she gets back any minute now. Go. Go!"_

_With that, he went to her hair to climb down with a big smile on his face. Before he started to climb down, he turned back to her to throw out a comment._

_"I'm very excited about this, Punz!"_

_She could only laugh at him while he climbs back down. Secretly, she was excited too. Yet at the same time, she was nervous about stepping further into the world. Even so, she wasn't going to doubt Peter. He said he was going to protect her, and she wasn't going to doubt him about that again. It was time she believed in him._

* * *

All six people have been searching through the wood for some time, but they still haven't found anything. They've just been following the same trail ever since they found the hospital bracelet and nothing else. It wasn't until they reached the river that something happened. They know that because when they reached to river, Graham came to a stop.

"Where is he? Can you see him?"

Graham really wanted to answer her with good news, but it wasn't.

"The trail dies at the water line."

That was very bad. If the trail stops there, then he must've crossed the water or something. They all just kept moving their flashlights around, hoping he was close by. Unfortunately, he was. But it wasn't good.

**_"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"_**

Everyone quickly turned to Sunny, for it was her scream they heard. When they turned to her, she looked absolutely terrified. She dropped her flashlight, her eyes were widened in fear, and her hands were covering her mouth. Tate immediately ran over to her to calm her down. The minute his hands were on her, he could feel her shaking like a leaf.

"Sunny, relax. What's wrong?"

With a shaky finger, she pointed towards what made her scream. Following her finger, Tate pointed his flashlight to what scared her. In fact, what Sunny pointed at scared everybody; John Doe laying on his side in the river. It was a sight to see, but it didn't scare anyone like it did Mary Margaret. She was startled enough to drop her flashlight, running to him yelling 'oh, my god.' Emma and Graham followed her, Graham calling for help while Henry, Sunny and Tate stayed behind, Tate keeping his arms wrapped around a frightened Sunny. The others were quick enough to carry John Doe out of the water. Once they set him down, Mary Margaret was more keen on wanting him to wake up.

"No, no, no, no, no! No, no, no! I found you!"

No one knew what that was about, but either way, he's still unconscious. It wasn't really helping anyone, not even Sunny. Or Henry, for that matter.

"Is he okay?"

Hearing Henry's worried voice finally, Emma ran right up to him and hugged him, making sure he didn't see the guy. Mary Margaret couldn't take it anymore and performed CPR. However, once she performed mouth to mouth, the minute her lips touched his, it turned into a real kiss. That wasn't the strange part of it though. The strange part was that when she removed her lips from his, John Doe was suddenly coughing out the water that filled his lungs, signifying that he was officially awake, and the first thing he saw was Mary Margaret's smiling, relieved face.

"You saved me."

Mary Margaret was smiling the whole time, happy that he was alive. She wasn't the only one who was happy. Henry was smiling while his mom was in shock.

"She did it. She did it! She woke him up."

"Yeah, kid. She did."

Emma could only say it, but not believe it. Meanwhile, Sunny was finally at peace that he was alive. She didn't even care that she laid her head on Tate's shoulder in relief.

"Oh, thank god."

Tate was so surprised that Sunny was laying her head on his shoulder, but honestly, he didn't mind it. All he could feel from just that was something warm, something comforting, and something relaxing. The only thing he did was run his hand through her hair and repeated it a couple of times until they heard the paramedics. Now everyone was at peace, now that they know John Doe will be just fine.

* * *

Dr. Whale and the nurses all wheeled John Doe into the ICU as fast as they could, the others close behind them. Unfortunately, one of the nurses closed the doors before any of them could go into the ICU. All they could do was watch in worry for the men. If anything, they were hoping he was alright. The only thing that stopped their thoughts was a voice.

"David!"

A woman's voice. They all turned around to see a blond women running by them and into the ICU room with the doctor and John Doe, or David, as he was called. Dr. Whale kept telling her she wasn't supposed to be in the room, but she didn't want to leave yet, so Dr. Whale just move her to the other side of the room. Meanwhile, everyone was watching the women in confusion, no one more then Mary Margaret.

"Who is that?"

"His wife."

They all turned around to see that the other voice came from Regina. They noticed that she had a smirk that could only mean she had something to do with it, but not in a good way. Inwardly, Sunny thought she did.

* * *

_"... Bring back what once was mine_

_What once was mine"_

_Rapunzel was having her hair brushed once again. By her mother. She doesn't even know that her wrinkles are disappearing and the grey in her hair went back to its original charcoal black. She smiled at the fact that she was young again, and as far as she was concerned, Rapunzel was going to stay with for as long as she's alive. However, still acting like her mother, she has to act like one._

_"How did your day go, flower?"_

_She could just stare at the fireplace smiling, thinking about Peter and the trip. It was almost her chance of freedom._

_"Just the usual, mother. The usual daily line-up."_

* * *

_Peter was walking around the woods to the cave he slept in with a smile. He and Rapunzel are going to Corona. He can show her why she needs to go with him there. Hopefully, he isn't wrong. And hopefully, the king will know her as well._

_"Well, aren't you in a happy mood."_

_Peter quickly turned around to see who said that. He really wish he didn't because of all the people he turned to see, sitting on a boulder, it was the Dark one himself. And also his father, Rumpelstiltskin._

_"I was, but then you ruined it."_

_He turned back around to continue walking, but Rumpelstiltskin started to follow him._

_"I can tell from your look that it probably had to do with a certain girl."_

_Peter turned back around with his dagger, charged to his father and shoved him against a tree with the dagger against his neck. His father didn't seem frightened. He just kept his same old madman smile on his face. Peter just looked at him like a mad dog._

_"What are you talking about?"_

_"You've gotten a little faster since I last saw you. That's a good accomplishment-"_

_"Explain. Now."_

_He waved his finger at Peter._

_"Ah, ah, ah. Remove the knife and then we'll talk."_

_Peter really didn't want to remove the knife. If anything, he wanted to shove it even further into his neck. However, if he wanted to know if his father meant Rapunzel, he had no choice but to oblige. He moved his knife away with a glare while his father never dropped his smile._

_"Now speak. What girl did you see?"_

_"I think it's quite obvious what I meant."_

_He started circling around Peter while explaining._

_"I saw you get captured by those guards. I was just about to see what I could do to help, but I couldn't because you were rescued by a girl."_

_Once he was behind Peter, he leaned into his sons ear._

_"A girl with blonde hair, long enough to wrap around Queen... Regina's... castle."_

_SWIPE!_

_Peter swiftly swung his arm with the dagger in his hand, hoping to slice off Rumpelstiltskins jaw, but he disappeared before Peter could get one cut on his face. Peter was looking around to see if he was still here, because he had an urge to go back to the tower and get to Rapunzel._

_"I must say."_

_He turned around and found Rumpelstiltskin back against the tree._

_"She's quite a pretty one. And hair like that is hard to come by on a girl."_

_Peter could only glare harder at each word. The last thing he wants to hear from his father is anything about Rapunzel._

_"You stay away from her or so help me-"_

_"Now, now. Calm down. Her life or hair mean nothing to me."_

_Peter was confused. If he wasn't after either of those, what does he want?_

_"Then why are you here? What do you want with her?"_

_"I seem to have understood that she lives in a tower that she has never left until she went to find you. She has a fear of her hair getting cut off, which I still don't understand. And she has a very strict mother."_

_Where is he getting all of his information?_

_"I also understand that you are taking her to a neighboring kingdom, thinking that she is the lost princess."_

_Now Peter had to glare even harder. His ways of things are getting on his nerves._

_"So what? You want something valuable if it's proven that she is?"_

_Rumpelstiltskin waved his finger again._

_"Absolutely not. As nice as it sounds, I have a castle of my own. Besides, it does seem to me that you care about this girl deeply. __And one of my intentions when I became a father to you and Bae was to make you happy. So what I am offering you is some help to get you to Corona."_

_Peter wasn't believing him; not after everything he's done. So he walked right up to his face and told his father his answer._

_"I'm going to tell you something, Dark One. My feelings to someone are none of your concern. And do you really think I'm going to let you do me any favors? When I was taken out of Neverland for a while and I saw how much you've changed, I knew I couldn't trust you anymore. When I was in Neverland and found Bae, he told me how you broke his promise that you would never leave him. Obviously, you lied to him since he's been with me on an island where we never age for the past 300 years. Anytime someone makes one mistake, you won't hesitate to break any hearts once their dead. You've spend the last couple of centuries proving to people that you're no coward when you could've found a way to get us back home. You couldn't even hold yourself to that promise. As far as I'm concerned, you can keep your magic. You can only help by staying away from her and the rest of my friends. Most of all, stay away from me."_

_With that, Peter was finally able to walk away without his father stopping him. After seeing him as the Dark One and everything Baelfire said about him, there was no way he was going to trust him with anything, not even with Rapunzel. Rumpelstiltskin could only watch his son in despair. He really wanted to help his son, and right now there was no helping him anytime soon. Despite that, he wasn't going to give up. He's lost Baelfire, he was not going to lose Peter._

* * *

"His name is David Nolan. And that's his wife, Kathryn. And the joy on her face, well, it's put me in quite the forgiving mood."

She feels forgiving, but that smile on her face says something else. Something about what she did seemed a little wicked and truthfully, Emma didn't like it. Neither did Tate nor Sunny for that matter. That wasn't what Regina cared about though. The only thing she could do next was look at Henry in anger.

"We'll talk about your insubordination later. Do you know what insubordination means?"

Henry shook his head.

"It means you're grounded."

Henry just slumped in his seat. Tate, who was in the chair next to him, patted his shoulder saying 'Hang in there, kiddo' before standing up and walking over to Sunny, who was standing next to Emma.

"Okay. _Now_ can we talk? We're not going to get a better moment then this."

"Yeah, I know. Come on."

She took his hand and dragged him to the hallway, so they could talk about it alone. Once they went into the hallway to talk about it alone, they stopped where are and Sunny finally stood in front of Tate with her arms crossed.

"Okay. Talk."

Tate just looked her in the eye and finally explained.

"I'm really sorry I scared you yesterday. Emma just told me that scaring makes you feel like your about to be kidnapped. That was probably the only thing about you that I didn't know about. So I really am sorry. And to prove it, I tried to buy you a present; a peace offering, in a way."

Sunny raised her eyebrows in curiosity. Tate actually tried to _buy_ a present. Last time he got her something, Graham had to confiscate it because Tate didn't pay for it.

"So I went to find something in Mr. Gold's antique shop."

That made Sunny's eye widen in shock. Tate went to Mr. Gold's shop of all places? Why would he go there? He's always been telling Sunny how much he creeps him out.

"And I did. The only thing is, instead of money, Mr. Gold made me work out a deal with him. In order to get what I wanted, I'll have to work around the shop with him and of all things... he told me to move in with him at his house."

That really caught Sunny off-guard. He was getting her an apology gift, but the price to it was to stay with Mr. Gold. Honestly, to Sunny, that sounds like a better deal. It would mean less worry about Tate in the hut and finally getting a good night's sleep. Besides, it was nice to know that Mr. Gold was another person offering Tate a home.

"But Sunny, I don't know if I can do it. I really don't like this man, but I don't know what else to do."

Sunny just smiled and told him what to do.

"You want to make it up to me that much?"

"More than anything."

That made Sunny smile more. Tate knew how to be sweet when others can't even see that.

"I don't need a present. But there is something you can do."

Tate just stood there, ready to hear her out. He was willing to do anything for her.

"Tell Mr. Gold you don't need the present, but I do want you to move in with him."

Except that.

"Sunny, there is no way-"

"That's what I want from you. Tate, for you to finally stay in real home so I don't have to keep worrying about you, that's the only thing I've been wanting. I know there's something about Gold that scares you, but he's the only one outside of me offering you a better place to stay. You tell me that you can handle yourself in that hut, even on cold nights, but the times I had to take care of you while you were sick tells me otherwise. You staying someplace warm is good enough for me and you and Gold is giving you that. At least, think about that, hotshot."

With that, she left him to think about it. Obviously with the 'hotshot' nickname, it means she forgives him, but if he wants to stay any closer to her, he has to stay with his least favorite person in Storybrooke. So he just stood there and thought of the good stuff and bad stuff to living with Gold. The cons to it is that he was offered a home from the most hated man in Storybrooke, he's always looking at Tate like he wants something from him, and Tate wouldn't have as much time with Sunny as he usually does. On the other hand, he was offered a home, Sunny would not have to worry anymore, he would have a job, and he would have a comfortable good nights sleep. And the verdict is...

Sometimes, Tate hates it when Sunny is right.

* * *

Mr. Gold was sitting in the comfort of his own home, reading a book, while drinking some tea. As he was taking another sip, the doorbell rang. It was odd to him as to why someone would be at his house so late at night, but he was reluctant to answer. Grabbing his cane and slowly standing up off his dining table, he limped over to the door. However, once he opened the door, he was surprised to see Tate at the door. He seemed a little hesitant about something before he had the courage to speak up.

"I'm sorry I'm here so late, but... The truth is, I talked to Sunny and I don't need that music box anymore."

Gold was deflated at that, but he didn't show it.

"But..."

Tate said that while adjusting a back pack, which Gold had just noticed he had on. He looked down and also noticed that he had a bag in his left hand. He looked up at Tate in slight hope and confusion. All of that could mean one thing.

"Is that hospitality offer still available?"

And it was. Gold was filled with some happiness. One of his sons is finally that much closer to him. Granted, he doesn't know who Gold is, or who _he_ is for that matter, but as long as he is finally asking for help, that was good enough for him. Getting over his shock without wasting another second, he nodded to Tate.

"Yes. Yes, of course. Come in, come in. Hurry now."

Tate hurried in before he could say anything else. Before any more cold wind or anything unlucky happened, Gold immediately shut the door.

* * *

Back at Mary Margaret's apartment, Sunny was sitting on the couch, reading a book. That is, she was trying to read it, but she kept looking back and forth between the book and Mary Margaret, who was sitting on the stairs, fiddling with her ring. Sunny's been worried about since she met Kathryn. She could tell she was starting to believe Henry and was beginning to like David. Ever since she found out he was married, she's been really down about it. She's been that way for a couple of hours and it was starting to worry Sunny a bit. Her thoughts were finished the minute she heard the door knock. Sunny stopped Mary Margaret before she could get up.

"It's okay, Mary. I'll get it."

Hearing that made Mary Margaret sit back down. When Sunny opened the door, it was who she was not expecting it to be.

"Um... Evening, Emma."

Hearing Emma's name made Mary Margaret come down her stairs to see of it was her.

"Sorry to bother you two so late."

They were a little confused. Emma seemed a little hesitant about something, but what? Emma's normally very confident.

"Is that spare room still available?"

They were surprised to hear Emma say that. Last they heard, she wasn't the roommate type. Still, Mary Margaret started to smile and looked to Sunny to see what she thought. Sunny smiled with shrugged to Mary Margaret, telling her 'why not?' With that settled, they both nodded and moved out of Emma's way, inviting their new roommate.

* * *

Slowly, but surely, Gold was coming down the stairs and into the living room, giving Tate the information he needs.

"Alright, Tate. The spare room should be done in a couple of days. I hope you don't mind the couch unti-"

He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence once he saw Tate. He was fast asleep on the couch just like that, and this time, he wasn't curled up from the cold. He was actually on a warm and comfortable couch. It honestly warmed Gold's heart that he was sleeping in his home like the good old days. Worried that he might still freeze over night, he grabbed the blanket on top of the couch and placed it over Tate, hoping it would make him more comfortable. Doing that made Gold realize that he was actually taking care of his son like he used to. It honestly brought silent tears to his eyes as he kneeled down next to his sons head, running his hand through his hair like he did when Peter was a little boy. He was so happy that he really was that much closer to bringing his children back to him.

"Good night, Peter."

* * *

**FINALLY! Sorry this took a while. I took some time to organize the flashbacks before I got started, because there was a lot and I needed to get the time frames right before it ended up getting confusing. Besides, I kept having writers block for this chapter. Episode 3 was hard to do… Plus, school started****, so**** it will be a while before I update. I also wanted to hurry and finish before I ended up getting real busy, so sorry if it seems a little rushed.**

**A/N about the chapter: For Peter getting his name Peter 'Pan,' I thought of the pan flute because I've read that Peter Pan's name was originally made because he could play the pan flute, so I thought it would be a good banditry alias. Another thing; I was originally thinking of making Tate and Sunny kiss in this, but then I thought 'Nah. It's too early for that. I'll give it a few more chapters. Maybe at least one argument.'**

**On the bright side, I figured out how the cover image works. My new necklace was the inspiration, so I used that for my cover image. Hope you like it! Later, Gators!**


	4. The Price of Gold

**Disclaimer: I do not own 'Once Upon a Time' or the Rapunzel from Tangled. I just own Sunny and Tate.**

* * *

Sunny was walking to Granny's restaurant to work on her laundry there. There was one at Mary Margaret's apartment, but there was too much laundry, so Sunny thought it would go quicker to do half of the laundry at Granny's. The only thing different is that she was walking there with a big smile on her face. Things were looking up in Storybrooke; Emma's moving in, Tate has a home, Regina hasn't bothered them in almost a whole week; things are better than ever.

She finally snapped out of it enough to see the restaurant and go around the back to the laundry room. However, once she went in, she saw the last person she expected to see standing by the washer; Ashley Boyd.

"Ashley?"

Ashley turned around quickly, hoping it wasn't someone she didn't want to see, but sighed in relief when she saw that it was Sunny.

"Sunny. You scared me."

"Sorry. I just needed to do some laundry. Mary Margaret and I had a lot of clothes to wash, so I decided to ease up the load, doing some here."

Ashley nodded in understanding. Sunny went over to the other washer and dry and filled the washer with whites. Before she put in the detergent, she heard heels snapping on the floor that started getting louder, meaning it was getting closer to the laundry room. It was revealed to be Emma, looking to be in a bad mood.

"Sunny, can I put my shirts in there?"

"Sure. Go crazy."

Emma wasted no time taken off her shirt before taking off her undershirt and putting them in the washer, by throwing them like an angry person throwing a glass ball. Then she went to the hooks and yanked a random shirt from the hook. Sunny noticed her angry and really wanted Emma to relax.

"Emma, calm down. You're gonna kill the shirt pulling it like that."

"I have someone else in mind."

Sunny didn't need to guess that she was talking about Regina. And that just ruined the things looking up streak.

"Oh, no, no, no, no!"

She looked over to Ashley to see what she was so frantic about. All she could see was her holding pink sheets.

"Something wrong, Ashley?"

"The sheets. They're uh… They're pink."

Now Sunny understood. They were probably white when Ashley put them in.

"You try bleach?"

That sounded rude from Emma, and Sunny wasn't gonna have that.

"Emma."

Emma looked to Sunny annoyed, but Sunny walked over to Ashley with Emma's eyes following. Then Sunny turned around and looked at Emma in the eyes while she moved Ashley's pink sheets, revealing that she was stressing because she's pregnant.

"Oh."

Sunny nodded at Emma, glad that she finally understood. And at that, she went back to the washer while asking Ashley what was wrong.

"At any rate, is something wrong, Ashley? You seem more worried than usual."

She explained while rubbing her pregnant stomach, almost frantically.

"Last night, I felt contractions and the doctor said that the baby could come any day now."

Sunny nodded, looking a little sympathetic at Ashley. She is way too young to have this kid alone. Especially, since her boyfriend left her.

"Well, that's great."

How Emma can tell when someone is lying and not anything else is beyond Sunny. The washer was finally beeping meaning that the clothes were done. While she was putting them in the dryer, she heard Ashley explain more. This time, she sounded a little upset.

"It's just that, um, when the… When the baby comes, no one thinks that I can do this."

That's what hurts the most. It's not that Sunny didn't think that she could do it. She just thinks that Ashley is too young to be a single mom. That's why she offered some help if Ashley needed it.

"No one thinks I can do anything. Maybe they're right."

That broke Sunny's heart. She never once thought that way about Ashley.

"Ashley, you know that's not what I-"

"Screw 'em."

Both Ashley and Sunny looked to Emma in confusion. Sunny looked a little more confused than Ashley.

"What?"

"Screw them. How old are you?"

"Nineteen."

"I was eighteen."

Sunny was surprised. Emma had Henry when she was eighteen? Emma didn't pay attention to her though. Right now, she was talking some sense to Ashley.

"When… When you had a kid?"

"Yeah. I know what it's like. Everyone loves to tell you what you can and can't do, especially with a kid. But ultimately, whatever you're considering doing or giving up, the choice is yours."

Ashley could just think while rubbing her stomach again. Sunny always thought that might've been a nervous habit of Ashley's since she got pregnant.

"It's not exactly what you might think it is."

"It never is. People are going to tell you who you are your whole life. You just got to punch back and say, 'no, this is who I am.' You want people to look at you differently? Make them. If you want to change things, you're going to have to go out there and change them yourself, because there are no fairy godmothers in this world."

Ashley was looking at Emma overwhelmed. Because no one has ever said anything like that to her before. In fact, because she was pregnant hardly anyone in Storybrooke has helped her out at all. She was so grateful. Meanwhile, Sunny was starting to look at Emma like she might have a split personality disorder. One minute she's in a bad mood, the next she's helping someone. Still, it's good to know that she has Ashley's back. Henry was right; having Emma in Storybrooke was a good thing to have happened after all.

* * *

The next day, Regina was looking in front of a mirror applying her make-up. While she was doing that, she was also talking to Henry while waiting for Sunny to show up.

"I know you think otherwise, but I don't enjoy these Saturday city council meetings. Sometimes, they're just unavoidable."

As she finished applying her lipstick, she heard someone knock on the door. She put on a smile and answered the door. However, when she opened the door, her smile dropped when she saw it was not Sunny at the door. Instead, it was Tate.

"Morning, 'Gina. Where's the baby I'm sitting?"

Regina was about to close the door, but Tate already walked right inside. Henry broke out into a smile when he saw it was Tate who walked in.

"Hey, Tate."

Tate smiled while walking to the dining table where Henry was sitting.

"What's up, Henry?"

They high-fived as Tate walked to the chair next to Henry and sat in them. Meanwhile, Regina walked right over to them, looking very displeased at Tate.

"What are you doing here? Sunny was supposed to watch Henry."

Tate answered her with a smirk.

"She's has a two o'clock shift at the art store, so she asked me to take her place for the day."

"Well, why didn't she call me first?"

"I told her I would."

Henry responded to that.

"But you didn't."

"Oops."

Henry laughed at that. Because he knew that Tate really can be trustworthy enough to call. The real reason that he didn't was because he wanted to get a kick out of Regina when she saw that it was him coming instead of Sunny. Henry stopped laughing once he saw that mad look on Regina's face. Sure enough, the last person she would have watch over Henry was Tate. Part of it was because he's a criminal, the other part was because he was Peter Pan. Checking the time, she knew she didn't have any to argue.

"I'd hurry if I were you, mayor. You'll be late."

Regina glared at Tate, who had that familiar smirk on his face. Unfortunately, he was right. Because of it, she did the one thing she never did; give up.

"Okay, fine. You're better than nothing. But you ARE to obey the rules if you're going to watch Henry. Is that clear?"

All Tate did was salute.

"Scouts honor."

She rolled her eyes before focusing on Henry.

"Now, Henry, you know the rules."

"Yes on homework, no on TV, and stay inside."

Tate's smirk dropped from hearing those rules. It sounded more like a prison than a house with those rules.

"Good boy."

She leaned down to his level to make something perfectly clear.

"Under no circumstance do you leave this house."

"You mean, don't see my mom."

Kid was good. Exactly one of the reasons Tate liked him. Regina, on the other hand stood back up looking unhappy.

"She's not your mother. She's just a woman passing through."

It was Tate's turn to roll his eyes.

"Now, do as I say, or there will be consequences."

Regina turned to Tate.

"That goes for you, too, Clyde."

Tate could only shrug at her. She never bothered him, so why now? Regina finally walked away with a few remaining words.

"I'll be back at five sharp."

The minute she walked out the door, Tate got up and walked over to look out the window to see that Regina was just pulling out. Seeing that made him smirk again and sit back down on a dining chair, across from Henry. He was smirking at Henry, while Henry was smirking back, knowing exactly what Tate had in mind.

"You're not going to make me stay in the house, aren't you?"

"Not for a second."

With that, they both laughed. They both had it coming that Tate wasn't going to let him stay in the house anyway.

"Now get going. Spend some time with Emma while you're still alive."

Henry wasted no time grabbing his backpack and running to the door, grabbing his jacket along the way.

"Thanks, Tate. I owe you one."

"Two, actually. You still owe me for your field trip to Boston."

Henry nodded with a 'Right' before closing the door. Tate could only just smile at the kid. The reason he liked Henry so much was because he didn't judge him too quickly. Henry was one of the very few people who got to know the real him rather than judge him based on his actions. It made Tate feel like he had another friend.

* * *

Back at Mary Margaret's apartment, she made lunch for Emma and Sunny. Sunny was getting ready for work while Emma started to unpack her boxes.

"I'm so glad my stuff is here."

Mary walked over to Emma and gave her her plate of food.

"Oh, thanks."

Mary nodded in return while looking at the boxes. Sunny doing the same thing while putting on her apron. They noticed that Emma did not have a lot of things.

"So, that's all your stuff?"

"What do you mean?"

Sunny responded.

"Did you put the rest in storage?"

Emma shook her head.

"No, this is all of it. I'm not sentimental."

Emma did not sound thrilled saying that. Mary noticed that and tried to lighten up the mood.

"Well, it must make things easier when you have to move."

And it did, but only a little. Sunny was done getting ready, but then she looked at her watch and saw how early she was. She thought of this as a good moment to kill some time.

"Well, Emma, do you need any help? I still have over an hour until my shift starts."

Emma shook her head at Sunny.

"No, I got it. Thanks, anyway."

Sunny nodded before there was a knock on the door. She walked over to see who it was. When she opened the door, she was surprised to see that it was Mr. Gold.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Blanchard."

It took her but only a second to find her words.

"Hey, Mr. Gold. Is something wrong? Is Tate okay?"

"Oh, yes, yes. He's fine. He should be at the mayor's house by now."

Sunny nodded approvingly. Tate is there exactly when he should be, so he's starting to shape up. He's honestly been a little different lately. Working hard, doing what he is told, and most surprisingly, he is listening to what gold tells him instead of telling him off. So far, he has not been complaining about staying with Gold. That was a good sign.

"Then what can I do for you?"

"Is Miss Swan around by any chance?"

Fortunately, she did not have to get Emma, because at the sound of her name, she walked right up to the door. She was rather surprised as well to see the man she met over a week ago.

"Hi, my name's Mr. Gold. We met briefly on your arrival."

They shook hands.

"I remember."

She also remember his name by Sunny telling her that he was the man that Tate moved in with.

"Good. I have a proposition for you, Miss Swan. I, uh… I need your help. I'm looking for someone."

"Really? Um…"

She really could talk to him, but not with Sunny and Mary Margaret in the same room. Luckily for them, the girls got the message.

"You know what? I'm going to go jump in the bath."

Leaving it quickly at that, Mary Margaret walked away.

"And I'm going to go on a walk before my shifts starts."

And leaving it at THAT, Sunny walked out the door. She was actually thinking of thanking Mr. Gold for having Tate live with him, but she was going to have to do that some other time. As she walked down the stairs, she noticed someone coming up. She stopped that person from going up any further once she saw that it was Henry.

"Whoa, hold it right there. Henry, what are you doing here? Regina's Saturday meeting is today. You're supposed to be at home."

"Yeah, but I wanted to spend some time with Emma."

He tried to go up again, but Sunny grabbed his arm. Again.

"Even though she probably told you not to leave the house and you should've at least have Tate with you? Where is he, anyway?"

"Back at the house. He's keeping a lookout in case mom comes home early."

Now he really went up the next flight of stairs, and Sunny didn't even stop him because she was in shock from what Henry just told her. Apparently, he has not changed that much. Finally getting over her state of shock, she rushed downstairs while taking out her cell phone and dialed Regina's house number. While it was ringing, she reached the outside of the building and looked around to make sure Regina was not around. She noticed that she was in the clear at the same time Tate answered the call.

"Mayor Mills' house, who also grows really juicy apples."

The minute she heard his voice, her anger started to grow.

"It's me, sitter."

Tate stopped himself from taking another bite once he heard that it was Sunny on the line. And from the sound of it, she was even less happy than when he tried to scare before that search for David.

"You saw Henry, didn't you?"

"He was in the apartment complex on my way out. How could I not? What is he even doing there?"

"Henry's just going to spend some time with Emma, a responsible adult, and she'll have him back before five when Regina comes home."

Sunny was now starting to speed walk to her job while talking on the phone in anger.

"Not the point, Tate. You were supposed to watch him."

"I was watching Henry. I watched him leave the house."

Sunny couldn't take it anymore and moved the phone away from her so Tate wouldn't hear her groan in frustration. Unfortunately, he did and he cringed at it. He was in trouble now.

"Tate, you have to do something about this. If Regina finds out about this, you'll go back to jail for neglecting Henry, she'll fire me as his babysitter, Henry will be grounded till he goes off to college, and she'll find an excuse to go after Emma."

"Sunny, Sunny. Calm down. Emma's the reason Henry's over there; he wants to be with his real mother. You know I let him go to Boston to find something I could never have and I was willing to do it again. Henry has an opportunity to see his mother while he still can. You and I never did. Think about it; if you found your mother, would you leave it alone or meet her for the first time?"

What Tate said struck a chord with Sunny. Honestly, Sunny has thought about what would've happened if she met her mother. Because she doesn't even remember how she lost her mother. If that's the case, she could still be alive. Henry's real mom is alive, so he should get to know her while she's staying in town.

"You know how you hate it when I'm right?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Vice versa."

Tate smiled to himself. He finally got through to Sunny. She wasn't finished yet.

"Just make sure Henry's there before Regina."

"You have my word."

"Your word better be legit this time. I'm going to work. Take care, hotshot."

"You too, Picasso."

Now that made Sunny laugh before she hung up. His nicknames for her were always something that had to do with art. Moving past that, she really hopes he keeps his word and has Henry before five.

* * *

Sunny was now at the hospital. There was ups and downs to putting away supplies like scissors and exacto-knives. The least someone can do is wrap the tops of those knives or at least deliver them in sealed packages. She was lucky to not have any stitches, but unlucky to have a cut like that. One of the nurses finally finished wrapping her hand.

"Okay, Sunny. You're done. If I were you, I'd consider wearing gloves next time you stock those knives at the art store."

Sunny answered while checking out her handy work.

"Don't have to tell me twice."

"At any rate, there wasn't a lot of blood, so a transfusion isn't needed. The rest of your vital signs are okay, but you should come back if you start getting dizzy within the week. Other than that, everything's okay."

"Good, so I can go?"

She said that while getting off of the patients seat. She honestly wasn't that comfortable with hospitals either; it wasn't because of that fear of death thing like Tate, but the smell of all the medicine was uncomforting.

"Yeah. Just sign out at the front desk and you'll be good to go."

"Perfect. Thanks, Lucy."

With that, she tried to rush out of the hospital. By tried, it means that something stopped, and that something with Ashley in the maternity ward with Emma and Henry. If Ashley was in there, it could only mean one thing; Ashley just had her baby. Worried, Sunny dashed right into the room.

"Guys?"

They all turned around and saw Sunny.

"Is everything okay?"

Emma just smiled at Sunny.

"It's better, actually."

Sunny smiled at that, knowing that Emma meant that the baby was okay. She actually wanted to see what the baby looked like, so she walked further into the room to see Ashley holding a baby in pink blanket, which means that the baby is a girl. One sight of her and Sunny could not hold back smile. It had to be one of the most beautiful babies she's ever seen. The moment was over when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Not bothering to see who called, she answered the phone.

"Yolo."

"Where's Henry?"

The question came a bit too sudden for Sunny. It was someone with a British accent talking in a panic. She then moved the phone to see that the caller was Tate before moving it back to her ear.

"He's right here with me and Emma. What's wrong?"

"What do you think? Did you forget he had to be home before five? Regina's probably on her way home. Henry's got less than half an hour to get back!"

Now Sunny started to remember. In a panic, she looked to Henry and Emma.

"Emma, its Tate. Regina will home any minute."

Emma suddenly remembered that Henry had to get home.

"Oh, no. We better go, kid. Thanks, Sunny."

Sunny just nodded at Emma before they rushed out of the hospital. Hopefully, they'll make it in time before Regina gets there.

* * *

Meanwhile, Tate was pacing around the foyer, waiting for Henry in anxiety. He looked at his watch again and it read 4:58. Tate was getting nervous by the minute. If Henry doesn't get home soon, Graham will not hesitate to toss him back in the jail cell. Anxiety was lifted from him when he heard the door open and saw Henry running inside with news.

"She's pulling up."

Tate was afraid of that. He got Henry by the arm and ran to the stairs.

"Come on. Hurry up."

They ran right up the stairs, but in the process, one of Henry's shoes fell off.

"Leave it. We've got to move."

Henry listened to Tate and just kept moving.

"Henry!"

That was not a good sign for Henry and Tate. Luckily for them, they just made it to Henry's room. Henry ran in while Tate gently closed the door. Henry just tossed his backpack and his jacket to the other side of the bed.

"Henry?"

Tate tossed him some random book and Henry caught it while getting on the bed. Tate just grabbed some comic and flipped it to a random page before sitting down.

"What did I tell you?"

Henry took off his other shoe before flipping the book to a random page.

"Do not…"

Regina came right in looking annoyed, but not from Emma.

"…leave your shoes lying around on the stairs."

She lifted the shoe that accidently slipped off his foot.

"Someone could get hurt."

She tossed his shoe on the bed before looking at Tate, not so annoyed, but not so pleased either. It took her a minute to say what she had to say, but she was more annoyed with it than the shoes.

"Okay, so I guess since nothing's broken and there hasn't been any police involved… I suppose you did an okay job watching Henry."

Tate started to smirk at her, knowing that it must've hurt for her to praise him.

"Don't let it go to your head. I'm still not making you an emergency babysitter for my son."

He shrugged, keeping that smirk on his face.

"We'll see."

Regina started to glare at him. Even as Tate, Peter still had ways of ticking her off.

"Don't test me, Mr. Childs. You watched Henry today, but I want Sunny to see to it that she calls me first. With that being said, I'll escort you out."

With that, Regina walked out and Tate followed her slowly, winking at Henry along the way, then taking a deep breath of relief that everything went as planned. However, once he made it to the bottom of the stairs, Regina stopped him with an evil look in her eyes.

"I don't know what really happened here, but I will get to the bottom of it."

Tate could only keep his smirk up.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't take me for a fool, Mr. Childs. Do you really expect me to think that everything was really that quiet since I left?"

Tate could only shrug.

"What can I say? I have a calming personality."

And he walked away to the door, but not without Regina following him. Once he got out the door, Regina said the rest of what she had to stay.

"I'm not quite finished yet."

Sighing, he turned back to her.

"I know Sunny may have asked you to take her place and watch Henry today, but like it or not, this will be the last time it happens."

Tate rolled his eyes with that smirk on his face.

"And how do you know that?"

Regina put up a smirk of her own.

"Because you will refuse the next time it happens. If I find out she called you to take her place again and I see you in the same room with Henry, I will find a replacement of my own."

Tate's smirk slowly decided to drop from a look of confidence into a look of shock. He knew exactly what she meant by that.

"Regina, if I hadn't known any better, I would think you're telling me to stay away from Henry."

That look on Regina's face hasn't moved at all; signifying that it was exactly what she meant. Now Tate was even more shocked than he was a minute ago.

"You simply can't serious-"

"Actually, I am."

"Why? It's not like I let him play in the street. You don't see me making a cocktail for him."

"Not yet, I don't."

Tate has never been so upset in his life. This woman actually thinks that he would harm Henry. Tate would never do that; he cares for Henry like a brother. Regina just ignored those feelings and walked right up to Tate's face and told him exactly what she felt.

"I've known you longer than Henry. Because you have no parents, you take your anger and sadness out on other things. Because of that, it won't be long before it will lash out on people, and I can't have that happen to Henry."

"All I've done is steal."

"Along with breaking and entering, endangered Henry for him to go to Boston, reckless destruction and from what's been told, you've been stealing cigarettes, which means you smoke. Above all that, I won't let a teenager with a rap sheet watch over my son."

It was getting really hard for Tate not to cry. It wasn't like he wanted any of this to happen to him. He quit smoking and he hasn't been causing any trouble since Emma came to town, but the mayor is using that to her own advantage to get rid of him.

"I'm not proud of it."

"Yet you do it."

She went even further into his face when she saw that she was winning.

"I know people like you; you say you're going to change to be a better person, to prove to others that there's more to you than meets the eye, but guess what? They never change. You just end up doing the same thing all over again; become the Storybrooke menace, cause everyone nothing but trouble, be the same little pest you always were. I would face it, Mr. Childs. You're nothing but a bothersome street rat; you always have, and you always will."

Finally finished, she walked away with that bitch smirk still on her face. Even once she closed the door, Tate still kept a straight face, but his tears couldn't hold back any longer. They were falling out like Niagara Falls. It wasn't because Regina hurt his feelings, but because he believes she was right. He's done a couple of good things, but no matter what it is, no one sees him as a good guy. What was the point in trying if nothing was going to change?

He heard glass knock and he looked up to see Henry looking at him out the window with a bright smile and started waving bye to Tate. Tate tried to smile back at him, but it was hard to do, because if he wanted Sunny to keep her job and protect Henry from trouble, then that was going to be the last smile he will ever get from Henry again.

* * *

"So Ashley tried to go to Boston so Gold wouldn't have the baby?"

Later that night, Emma came home and told Sunny the whole story. And that meant the WHOLE story.

"Yeah, but she went into labor before she could even pass the sign."

"And after you dropped off Henry, you accepted the deputy job from Graham?"

"That I did."

"Wow. You really miss a lot during a five hour shift."

Emma laughed at that.

"It's alright. It wasn't that big."

Sunny gave her a look saying 'You're kidding, right?' That was when Emma realized that she made a bid choice of words.

"Okay, it's pretty major."

"Precisely."

Remembering Henry, Emma also remembered his babysitter.

"By the way, have you heard from Tate after Regina came home?"

Sunny just remembered that. He was supposed to call her when he left the house.

"Not that you mention it, no. He was supposed to call me after the job was done. Regina hasn't called, so I don't think anything bad happened to Henry."

That was what she thought, but she does not even know the truth. The truth was that he may never see Henry again.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Gold's house, Gold was making dinner while Tate was in his new room. It was plain right now, but Gold said he could decorate anytime he got the chance to. Right now, Tate wasn't in the mood to think about interior designing. He was too busy looking out the window, thinking about what happened.

It honestly made him feel very conflicted about what to do. Tate was at a lose-lose situation. If he sees Henry, Sunny may not be able to anymore. At the same time, if he does not see Henry, Henry will get suspicious and figure out what happened, which will make it even worse. At the same time, he thinks that Regina may be right. He's tried to change for the better, but he just ends up repeating the same mistakes he's made. The only reason was because no matter how much he tries, no one will ever see him differently. If that was the case, what was the point in trying to change? What was the point at all?

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard knocking at the door. He looked over to see Mr. Gold coming through the door.

"Dinner's ready. I hope you don't mind fish tonight, because I made salmon."

Tate could only just nod at him at the moment, before looking back out the window.

"I'll be down in a couple of minutes."

Hearing that made Gold a little suspicious. Back in the Enchanted Forest, salmon was Peter's favorite food. He then started to notice that Tate looked a little upset about something.

"Is everything alright, Tate?"

He could only shake his head and answer, not even so much as sharing a glance at him.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Now Gold knew something was wrong. He was not sure what it was, but he will find out. Whoever upset his son upset him as well. However, even as Tate, Peter is very stubborn. He would see to it that his father will not get himself involved in his problems. The only thing he could do is make it seem like he believes him.

"All right. At least, be down soon before it gets cold."

Tate could only nod, still not looking back. With that, Gold closed the door and headed downstairs. As soon as he was down, Tate could not take it anymore and emptied out his back pocket, taking out a small box. The worst part to it is that the box said Marlboro on it; as in Marlboro cigarettes. He opened the box and took one out. He then took out his best lighter and light the tip of the cigarette. The minute it was lit, he took to his mouth and inhaled the nicotine before exhaling it all back out. He really forgot how relaxed it made him. Doing that made him come to a decision; Regina was right.

Nothing will change, and nothing ever will.

* * *

**MAN, I made Regina a total bitch, didn't I? And poor Tate, going back into his depressive, angry state. But rest assure; he'll be better in the next episode.**

**I decided no flashback with Cinderella. I didn't even remember Snow and David in the flashbacks till I saw the episode when I was almost done writing. I was thinking whether or not I could add Peter and Rapunzel since it shows how Rumpelstiltskin was in prison, but it was too late anyway, so c'est la vie. Besides, this episode wasn't really in my top 10. Sorry. And to be fair about Regina, she wasn't much of a good guy in the first season, so I wanted a way to make it fit. And I realize that there hasn't been much Tate being a rebel, so Henry sneaking out seemed like a good idea.**

**At any rate, I am so glad I posted this today because… IT'S MY 21****st**** BIRTHDAY! Well, technically it's on Monday, but my family and I are celebrating it tonight. And I'm starting with my first cocktail!**

**Aside from all of this, I'll try to get the next one up soon, but no promises that it will be up THAT soon. Biology is not to be taken lightly. Later, Gators!**


	5. AN

**I'm sorry to say everyone, but this story is on a temporary hiatus. Don't fret! It's nothing major! I just want to fix the sentence structure in my chapters before I continue. The way they're written is getting a little harder to write. I'm almost done with chapter 5, but I want to handle the chapters first. It'll be quick and easy. Promise! :)**

**Everything will be done as soon as possible, so don't stop reading. Later, gators!**


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